Here are corporates that are doing their best to overcome Covid-19.

As Covid-19 situation is being prolonged, corporates are actively taking part in overcoming the virus. Corporates have been carrying out their social responsibility whenever the country faced national disasters with their infrastructure and technology. Many corporates have been doing their part in overcoming Covid-19 according to different situations and in various ways such as supporting emergency relief goods and providing quarantine service. Here’s what some of them did in fighting Covid-19.

Relief Goods & Medical Team Health Kit Support

Samsung, LG, and Hyundai Glovis supplied emergency relief goods such as masks.

When Covid-19 quickly spread in Daegu, Gyeongbuk province in March, it was a dire task to establish a quarantine infrastructure to suspend the spread of the virus. Smooth supply of masks and relief goods to slow down the spreading and prevent further Covid-19 was needed. Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the government tried very hard to acquire sufficient masks. Corporates also participated. Samsung supported increasing Korean mask manufacturers’ production capacity and donated 330,000 masks from abroad to expand national mask supply. LG provided protective clothing, protective goggles, and medical masks to the Daegu/Gyeongbuk medical team.

Hyundai Glovis transported about 1,000 tons of emergency relief goods to various areas around the country suffering from the spread of Covid-19 free of cost. Relief goods included a hygiene kit consisted of mask, hand sanitizer, wet tissue, etc., as well as a grocery kit consisted of precooked rice, water bottle, etc., and a medical team health kit composed of multi-vitamin and restorative drinks for the medical team and paramedics. Delivery was quick, as they are of course a leading distribution business.

Some corporates took part in fundraising to purchase relief goods.

Along with providing the goods themselves, some corporates took part in fundraising to purchase various groceries, nutritional supplements, masks, etc., for the medical team and the underprivileged. KT&G began their support to overcome Corona Blues through a matching fund method under the name of ‘Imagine Fund’, in which the company donates the same amount of money donated by their management and employees from part of their monthly salary. Hyundai Mobis installed an unmanned donation terminal in the company to set up a matching fund type online donation platform. Hyundai Mobis donated the same amount of money donated by their management and employees.

Participating in the Blood Donation Campaign to Prevent the Lack of Blood

Corporates took part in blood donation to acquire necessary blood that is quickly draining due to Covid-19.

In May, a disaster text message was sent out to the public that didn’t regard definite diagnosis cases or mobility announcement. It was about the alarming state of blood volume in stock as blood donations decreased due to Covid-19. This was the time when we needed more blood than ever. Corporates actively took part in the blood donation campaign to help acquire necessary blood in stock. SK Group had their management and employees from businesses such as SKT, SK Broadband, 11st, etc., participate in the blood donation campaign. Shinhan Bank and NH NongHyup Bank also took part in the blood donation campaign. Public businesses such as Korea Electric Power Corporation, Korea Water Resources Corporation, and Korean Horse Affairs Association also participated. Hyundai Motors Group also had their management and employees carry out a blood donation relay. The blood donation campaign that began at the Ulsan factory in March went through the Asan factory, Jeonju factory, headquarters, and Kia Motors’ Hwaseong, Sohari, and Gwangju factories. A total of 3,960 people participated in the blood donation and contributed to the lacking blood supplies.

Providing Community Treatment Centers to Help with the Lack of Sickbeds

Samsung, LG Display, Hyundai Motors Group, and others provided their training centers and dormitories as community treatment centers.

In March, when Covid-19 patients increased greatly in Daegu/Gyeongbuk province, the lack of sickbeds became an issue; those diagnosed had to wait at home before they were given a bed. So, corporates began to provide their training centers and dormitories as community treatment centers. The community treatment center is a facility for isolated treatments for mild Covid-19 patients, so that those who absolutely need to be hospitalized can be given sickbeds before others. Samsung Group provided the Yeongdeok Training Center in Gyeongbuk as a community treatment center while LG Display provided their Gumi Employee Dormitory and Uljin LG Life Training Center.

Hyundai Motors Group also operated their Gyeongju Human Resources Development Training Center and Global Partnership Center as living treatment centers from March 10th to April 20th. The training center was a new building with 4 floors above ground and 2 floors below, with 380 rooms. It was scheduled to open in May, but it was first used to host the sickbeds for Daegu/Gyeongbuk Covid-19 patients. During the operation period, 280 mild patients were placed in a single room for their treatments; 243 left after completely healed. In April, 60 rooms from the Paju Human Resources Center were provided to the city of Paju. This was used as a temporary living facility for those coming in from abroad (people without symptoms). Samples were taken from those coming in from abroad; they waited in the premise before their diagnosis test results came out. Kia Motors also provided their Osan Education Center with 118 rooms as a community treatment center.

Holding an Untact Concert to Console the Tired Everyday Lives

An untact concert was held to console the public as they were tired from the social distancing.

Social distancing, which began in March, is prolonged into distancing in our everyday lives today. This put a limit on our cultural experiences such as going to concerts, music festivals, and art galleries. Staying home all day got the public tired physically and emotionally; so, the cultural industry and corporates planned untact concerts.

Hyundai Motors held the ‘Hyundai MotorStudio Stage X drive-in concert’ from May 22nd to 24th, in a drive-in theater method. A total of 900 cars were invited, 300 cars each day, through a selection of participants that applied through the Hyundai MotorStudio homepage and SNS. Audiences sat in their cars at the huge carpark concert place, set their radio frequency and listened to the music through their own audio system. The three days were about K-POP, musical, and classical music performances respectively in consideration of the audiences’ diverse taste and thirst for cultural shows.

Encouragement Campaign Videos to Deliver Hopeful Messages

Innocean held a campaign to cheer the medical team and the public, who are tired from the prolonged Covid-19 situation.

With the spread of Covid-19, our everyday lives suffered with social distancing and distancing in our everyday lives, etc. And thus, people began to be concerned about ‘Corona Blues’. Corona Blue is a new word that combines Covid-19 and a sense of feeling depressed (Blue); it refers to a depressing feeling and lethargy caused by Covid-19. Innocean carried out the ‘Cheering Bandage’ campaign for the medical team and the public, who are all so tired from Covid-19. With Facebook Korea, they have gathered more than 1,000 public cheering messages on their official Cheering Bandage campaign Instagram (instagram.com/cheeringbandage) since April, and they have produced medical band-aids with a cheering message to be distributed to Covid-19 dedicated hospitals.

Hyundai Motors Group produced an encouraging video to support overcoming Covid-19.

Hyundai Motors Group produced a video with a message of overcoming called ‘This is us’. Following the first video which was disclosed last month, which filmed people consoling one another in a witty way in difficult times of Covid-19, the second video which showed medical team treating Covid-19 patients, ‘This is us Part 2’, recorded 10 million views in just 10 days.

So far, we have looked at how corporates reacted to Covid-19. They made use of their respective infrastructure to help overcome Covid-19 with the people in various ways. From helping with supplies to holding untact concerts, corporates are cheering people up when we are tired from the prolonged Covid-19 situation. Corporate support is likely to continue until we see the cease of Covid-19. Here’s hoping for a smooth private/public cooperation in the future to stop the spreading of Covid-19 and our safe return to normal everyday lives.