Asian Industries Responds to SARS
by Mike Hoer, General Manager, Asian Industries
While the worst now appears to be over, SARS has been a
major challenge for Asian Industries over the last four months.
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Mike Hoer
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The epidemic first reached Hong Kong in late February, and
by the end of March, there were more than 40 new cases a day. The Hong Kong government
responded by setting up quarantine camps and by closing schools, churches, and other
public places. High schools were closed for three weeks and elementary schools for
seven.
At this point, our Hong Kong office, with 12 employees,
immediately implemented Department of Health guidelines for dealing with the outbreak.
Employees wore face masks in crowded places and on public transportation. The office
was kept disinfected and indoor ventilation was improved. Employees were also encouraged
to wash hands frequently and to say "hello" rather than shake hands.
In addition, business meetings and travel were kept to a
minimum, and any employee with a fever was instructed to stay home and seek immediate
medical treatment. Fortunately, thanks to these measures, no Conti employees or
Conti family members in Hong Kong contracted SARS.
Many international observers also suspected that China had
SARS, but until a retired senior official at a Beijing hospital spoke up, the government
seemed unaware of the issue. By the end of April, however, Beijing was reporting
about 150 new cases of SARS a day.
Our Beijing office took action by splitting staff into three
rotating shifts, with two-thirds of employees working from home on any given day.
The office also hired a private bus to pick up staff so that they would not need
to use crowded public transportation. And before employees entered the office, they
had to disinfect their hands and put on face masks.
The office suffered its biggest scare in April when a SARS
case was confirmed in a neighboring office building and the entire office block
was sealed off. Fortunately, the disease did not spread to Conti's building and
no staff or family members in China were affected.
As a result of SARS, we've also become familiar with "temperature
checks," which remain in effect at all airports, hotels, and border crossings.
On one recent trip to China, I had my temperature taken
five times in a single day at various checkpoints, and saw six people prevented
from boarding a plane because of elevated temperatures. One of our drivers also
failed a temperature check and was immediately put into quarantine, forcing us to
go out and retrieve his truck and cargo.
Overall, Asian Industries has been successful in responding
to the epidemic. Feed sales have not yet returned to normal levels; however, we
have been able to mitigate the effects of SARS by taking the right precautions with
our employees, and by implementing an aggressive customer call program--updating
customers by phone, guaranteeing timely delivery, and making provisions for special
needs.
Today, the crisis appears to be ending and life is returning
to normal. New cases have fallen sharply over the last month, and earlier this week,
the World Health Organization lifted its travel advisory for Beijing and removed
Hong Kong from its list of SARS-infected areas. In all, China has reported approximately
5300 cases, including more than 2500 in Beijing. Hong Kong has reported 1755 cases
of SARS, with 295 deaths.
SARS has proven to be a frightening and economically damaging
disease. However, despite all the media coverage, it has actually affected relatively
small numbers of people--just 0.026% of the population of Hong Kong and an even
smaller percentage in China. Without minimizing its effects, we also need to see
SARS from this perspective.