COVID-19 Response from Industry

Ensuring supply to several industries with paints and coatings to be used for medical purposes (ventilators, medical equipment, hospital beds etc), construction (hospitals), coatings for food and beverages cans. Additional support for healthcare projects in India and China.

Villagers living near Bangalore are receiving initial screening for COVID-19 through an existing e-health initiative which had been set up as part of the company’s AkzoNobel Cares program. Following the outbreak, the focus of the community healthcare project was changed to help tackle the virus. More than 1,000 people have been tested to date.

When Chinese authorities announced they were about to rapidly construct a hospital in Yinchuan – AkzoNobel moved quickly to donate 450 tins of Dulux Pro interior emulsion during the early days of the project. It helped to ensure that the new buildings could be completed on time (in just 15 days) as part of an urgent local response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Major investment in research around vaccine, antibodies and potential treatments. Launched several initiatives to help local communities cope with the COVID-19 outbreak, for example with donations of 9 million face masks. Ensuring supply of medicines to patients around the world is an ongoing priority.

Partnership with the University of Oxford to develop a potential vaccine aimed at preventing COVID-19 infection. Phase III trials started during late spring, results hopefully available later this year.

Donation of more than €2 million to the Maggiore hospital in Parma, the local civil protection authorities and the Parma Red Cross. Food donations in Australia, France, Italy & elsewhere. #italiacheresiste campaign as well.

Additional teams sent to support the energy needs of 320 hospitals in France and 80 hospitals in Italy. Help for microenterprises & most vulnerable households. Donations to MSF and health authorities. 

Implementation of additional support measures to support hospitals and those on the front line.

Commitment to maintain connectivity of most vulnerable customers in Germany and similar in other markets. 

14,000 staff working 24/7 to keep energy networks running including physical repair and operation of control rooms.

Significant increase in maintenance & support resources, to accommodate the surge in demand for voice and data-heavy digital communications during lockdowns. Engineering teams working tirelessly to maintain the best possible service and minimise the impact that disruption would cause.

Delivering critical services maintaining hospitals, operating transportation infrastructure, and cleaning and maintaining cities. The R&D+I department has helped develop a website and an App to support potential positive cases, as well as working with partners to craft breathing devices and make protective equipment using 3D printing. Establishment of a €10 million social fund. Over 800 free parking spaces for healthcare staff.

Donation of water and non-alcoholic beverages, the production of hand sanitisers and monetary contributions to front line medical facilities.  Additional donation of €15 million to support the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) relief efforts for the most vulnerable people affected by Covid-19, in particular in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Donation of €2 million to the WHO and other Health Organizations. Change of production to produce & donate disinfection material for hospital. Other Medical & Healthcare Products (e.g. donation of €5+ mio products). Additional Core Services & Donations (e.g. special solder production for General Motors to produce ventilators).  

Supporting children’s education and welfare during the COVID-19 crisis by donating at least €500,000 to nominated, approved charitable projects in the countries and regions in which KONE operates. Additionally KONE is offering KONE’s preventive maintenance service – KONE 24/7 Connected Services – free of charge for customers who operate in medical facilities and elderly care homes, to help them deal with the impact of the crisis. The company has also introduced a range of products and services specifically for the improved health and well-being of people moving around buildings.

Donation of healthcare and medical supplies worth €25 million, including 4.6 million face masks. Activation of extraordinary plan to reinforce energy supply to hospitals. Flexible payment facilities to all customers in financial difficulty – at no extra cost. Free emergency electricity service to all customers over 65 years old. Hiring 5,000 additional staff.

Purchase and/or manufacture of millions of masks. Substantial donations to hospitals in 22 priority countries.

Ensuring availability of products. Roll out of the ‘Always open for you’ initiative to help smaller, independent cafes, restaurants, bars and so on who are customers of our Nestlé Professional out of home business. That includes extending payment terms, suspending rental fees for coffee machines and offering free products. The total value of this initiative is expected to be around €475 million.

Supporting 3000 hospitals & healthcare centres in 22 countries, donating money and 250,000 face masks. Supporting frontliners by donating more than 10 million portions of coffee, cereals & chocolate, as well as 1.5 million water bottles. Donating more than 2.5 million meals to charities and foodbanks and €9.5  (€2 million in Europe) to support the Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies addressing COVID-19 emergencies.

Deploying or re-deploying engineers to ensure network reliability & performance.  Rolling out new networks at record speed where needed most (e.g. existing hospitals or in newly set up field hospitals).  Launching a Global Donation Fund intended to support charities, hospitals, health clinics, and other frontline NGOs. Developing a new camera that can take the temperature of 20 people every 30 milliseconds, using bespoke software and artificial intelligence.

Increased manufactoring of components for emergency response equipment, including diagnosis technology, healthcare goods, ventilator production and other support for core services.

Significant increase in maintenance & support resources, to accommodate the surge in demand. Donation of large quantity of masks to hospitals. Provision of aggregated anonymized data for research. Donation of an additional €8 million to support actions of prevention, protection & care in Europe and Africa.

Donation of masks, gloves & glasses. Mobilisation of production facilities, notably Life Sciences production units, specialized in materials for medical use, in Europe, the US and China working diligently to meet demand. Highest priority placed on delivering COVID-19 related products, including development of new therapies and components for life-saving medical devices, such as ventilators and infusion pumps. Ventilator component production increased by 1500%.

Increased packaging production to support medical/health sector needs. Fund of €1.5 million set up donations made to dozens to charities including Bulgaria, Czech Rep, France, Greece, Italy, Ireland and Lithuania.

Free increased data (30GB per customer), expanded entertainment & ‘Evermind’ mental health app. 

Free connectivity supplied to field hospital established at the IFEAM exhibition center and 11 hotels converted into hospitals. 20,000 free mobile line for students. Expanded educational and COVID-19 information channels.

Over €25 million donated to bring health care equipment and respirators to the areas most in need.

The founding family has donated €1 million to help combat the spread of COVID-19, in coordination and cooperation with the Hellenic Ministry of Health. It will support the work of the Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and Technology SA (IFET) and the urgent need for additional equipment supplies for hospitals and the public healthcare system.

Donation of €50 million in petrol vouchers to hospitals and medical staff. Flexible payment facilities extended for 6 months to all energy customers in financial difficulty – at no extra cost. 

Significant connectivity equipment & services provided and/or donated to field & existing hospitals in many countries. Partnering with Imperial College to combine insights from our network data with other factors to model the spread of the virus under different conditions. Providing governments and public administrations with access to the mobility dashboards (insights live in Spain, Italy, Greece and Portugal). Assisting governments as they look to exit quarantine/lockdown measures, through the development of contact tracing smartphone apps.

Donation of €185,000 to the Red Cross International. 3D printing of Face masks, protective glasses & face shields in France & Sweden. Working with the Swedish Armed Forces to transport medical supplies in Sweden. Various donations of laptops, healthcare accessories and food to health authorities and education communities in Sweden, the UK and the US. Donation of 35,000 litres of hand sanitizer & healthcare accessories to hospitals in Curtiba and Parana State in Brazil.  

Financial donations have been made to the Luigi Sacco hospital in Milan, Italy and Bernhoven hospital in Noord Brabant, the Netherlands, two healthcare facilities at the forefront of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Free solutions and resources have been offered to governments, hospitals, clinicians, professionals, and institutions dealing with the impact of the virus.