Will social distancing resume?

As COVID-19 spreads again, the pharmaceutical industry is concerned

Review internal guidelines such as refraining from offline events and recommending distributed vacations

As the spread of the coronavirus is intensifying again, concerns in the pharmaceutical bio industry are also growing.

 

Front-line companies seem to be paying keen attention to whether to resume social distancing measures, while asking executives and employees to strengthen personal quarantine rules ahead of the full-fledged summer vacation season.

 

◆ Please strengthen personal quarantine rules.

 

& refrain from face-to-face meetings According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the 13th, as of midnight on the 11th, there were 37,360 new confirmed patients in Korea.

 

It is the first time in more than two months that the number of new confirmed patients in Korea has exceeded 30,000 since May 17 (36,31).

 

The quarantine authorities believe that COVID-19 will be prevalent again.

 

The government has announced the announcement of new quarantine measures in preparation for the re-pandemic in summer.

 

The pharmaceutical bio industry is paying keen attention to the government's announcement of quarantine measures.

 

Social distancing measures are not expected to be implemented immediately, but various scenarios are under consideration because the possibility cannot be completely excluded depending on the spread.

 

Most companies do not have separate internal guidelines.

 

However, the government plans to comprehensively review the government's announcement and the spread of COVID-19 and take measures such as refraining from face-to-face meetings and recommending distributed vacations.

 

An official from a local pharmaceutical company said, "We did not take any special measures internally.

 

We reiterated compliance with personal quarantine rules to employees." If we resume distancing measures, guidelines such as refraining from face-to-face meetings will be issued to executives and employees accordingly," he said.

 

An official from a multinational pharmaceutical company said, "If at least one confirmed patient is found in the company due to the recent re-proliferation of COVID-19, new guidelines are expected to be prepared, such as expanding telecommuting internally.

 

◆ Increasing tension in factories and research institute In particular, factories and research institutes seem nervous about the re-proliferation of COVID-19.

 

This is because, like when COVID-19 was rampant in the past, if a COVID-19 confirmed patient occurs, all of the departments are likely to go into self-quarantine for a certain period of time.

 

An official from a domestic pharmaceutical company said, "Unlike the early stages of the COVID-19 crisis, the entire factory will not be shut down, but if all of the departments are self-isolated, it will inevitably disrupt the operation of the line." The official said, "We are paying attention to the possibility of a sharp increase in the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases in Korea during the summer vacation scheduled for early August," adding, "We have already had a special request for factory or research institute employees regarding summer vacation.

 

If the situation becomes serious, measures such as distributed vacation may be recommended, he explained.

 

Pharmaceutical factories are also mindful of the possibility that supply and demand difficulties for cold medicines and antipyretics will expand again.

 

An official from a pharmaceutical company, who operated an emergency operation system at the time of supply and demand shortage earlier this year, said, "We have secured enough inventory in preparation for the possibility of supply and demand again." ◆Marketing and sales representatives, concerned about resuming distancing A marketing officer at a domestic pharmaceutical company said, "Distancing measures are not expected to be implemented immediately, but if the situation becomes serious, there is a possibility that it will resume.

 

It's only recently that offline events have been possible.

 

If distance measures are resumed, marketing activities will inevitably be disrupted." "We're already full of offline marketing events for the next two or three months.

 

Confusion is expected to be severe over whether to push ahead with the scheduled event," he added.