As companies review their operations globally to avoid the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic through the implementation of strict social distancing measures, leading beverage manufacturing company, Guinness Ghana, has also joined a growing number of institutions in the country, that have activated a work from home policy.
Currently, Ghana has recorded eleven (11) cases of persons who have tested positive for COVID-19, and has identified 381 contacts who have been exposed to the disease.
Speaking to Citi Business News, Guinness Ghana’s Corporate Relations Director, Sylvia Owusu-Ankomah, said the company has taken measures to ensure that workers are not exposed.
“At Guinness Ghana, we are not taking chances on our employees. To that effect, we have effected the work-from-home policy, which will allow the employees to have the ability to work and function from home. The employees have been empowered with the tools of work such as laptops, chargers and data access to enable them to work remotely and seamlessly.”
“It is a precautionary measure which obviously hascbusiness implications, and if you think of the rate at which the virus is spreading, it is a decision that we need to get to, to ensure the safety of our employees. Of course, by the nature of our business, we have a manufacturing line, and those factories continue to operate. The Kumasi and Accra factories continue to run. So, to that extent, we have made sure that work spaces are observing the social distance parameters,” she said.
Effects of COVID-19
Across the globe, persons with the disease have been quarantined to avoid spreading to others as the COVID-19 has affected over 200,000 globally, with over 8,000 deaths.
Since the outbreak of COVID 19, business activities globally have witnessed a dip, running into huge financial losses. The airline industry is one of the hardest hit with airlines losing billions of dollars due to a huge drop in bookings. Other sectors that are beginning to also feel the brunt of the outbreak is the hospitality and tourism sector.
Earlier this month, Twitter told its employees to work from home to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.
In a blog post, the social media giant said it was compulsory for staff in Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea to work remotely.
The company also said it was “strongly encouraging” all of its 5,000 employees around the world to not come into work.
Also the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group’s Spring Meetings planned for next month in Washington DC in the United States of America have been canceled over health and safety concerns following the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus (COVID-19).
Global Statistics
The 2019 novel coronavirus, officially named as COVID-19 by the WHO, has spread to more than 170 countries, prompting the World Health Organisation (WHO) to declare the disease as a pandemic.
Confirmed novel coronavirus cases have crossed 200,000, while more than 8,000 deaths have been reported across the world, as Europe becomes the new epicentre of the disease. Approximately 60% of the global COVID-19 cases are currently outside China, the original source of the disease.
by Nerteley Nettey
