COVID-19 and the business survival mode
Photo created by prostooleh .
As more and more countries are re-entering lockdowns due to the increasing number of positive cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19), the hopes of many companies to go back to “normal” business fades away day after day.
During the first trimester of 2020, most companies started postponing international traveling in order to protect their employees from this strange virus originated in Wuhan, China; and the majority of them (including us) would believe that by the end of this year, we would be able to attend at least MEDICA Düsseldorf, the most important outlet for medical devices in the world.
After a reality check and the escalating red numbers, MEDICA decided to redirect all businesses into a virtual show by opening a website and an amazing opportunity for all companies to meet online, and even though the number of participants increases per day, the memory of an exhibition with human attendees seems to be far away from where we are now.
Probably we need to take this situation with the seriousness that it demands. Just like Taiwan did it since January by applying strict measurements that allowed us to celebrate 200 days without local cases a couple of days ago.
People might think that with so many infected people in their countries, there is not much to do but to wait for the curve to flat by itself, but if COVID-19 has taught us something this year is that, this virus will not be eradicated by taking care of oneself, but by protecting others.
Besides adapting to a world dominated by Zoom and Skype, international businesses have adapted very interesting solutions to keep their business running.
Virtual exhibitions and webinars are at the top of the list, a very convenient and safe method to promote business and brands without spending much on it.
Despise of the “normal lives” we live in Taiwan nowadays –businesses are open, including markets, restaurants, and trading companies- Taiwanese authorities have made very clear that we are not allowed to lower our guard and risk the welfare of the 23 million people living in this beautiful island.
The usage of masks has been reinforced in every public space, highlighting wet markets, commuting, and public events. This adds to the daily body temperature checks everyone has to go through when getting into an office, gym, cinema, or shopping mall.
To clean one’s hands with sanitizer is now automatic everywhere, and people do not leave their house if they have a cold or cough to avoid public panic.
All of these actions taken in one of the safest countries in the world should be an example to be followed by everyone else regarding their geographic whereabouts. By protecting others is the only way that we will protect the people close to us that need it the most, including our parents and grandparents.
We will go back to “normal” as soon as we apply these simple steps every day, making them part of our daily routine. By adjusting ourselves to it, we will generate a chain-effect change that will take a huge load off the shoulders of our doctors and nurses, the ones that have to deal with all of this directly every day during long and excruciating work shifts.
From our headquarters in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, we would like to recognize the hard work of the aforementioned doctors and nurses, and we would like to reaffirm our compromise with our distributors and partners all over the world.
We hope to travel soon again and shake your hands in person once we understood that care and responsibility for one another was the key to save humanity from this dark chapter in the book of modern history.
In the meantime, we invite you to find us in our website or in the showroom of MEDICA through the following links:
VIRTUAL MEDICA: https://bre.is/h8SQUzjL
OFFICIAL WEB: https://www.epedmed.com
Mask, hand sanitizer, self-quarantine (when needed), and social distancing really work. Read, repeat, apply, and move on.