Impact of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)
for Atlas Furniture Asia orders
Office Announcement from Atlas Furniture Asia regaring the novel coronavirus 2020
Firstly, we would like to thank you all for the recent messages of care and concern from our customers, knowing that we manufacture and operate in China. I can report that all of our staff remain healthy and virus-free. Aside from the minor inconvenience of the country-wide precautions being taken to ensure the safety of all, we are all well.
As you may already know, the outbreak first began at the start of the 2020 Chinese New Year, when (as per our earlier communication regarding Chinese New Year ordering & production times), our factories were due to close for the annual holiday, with staff returning around the 14th of February, being in production by the end of February. We still anticipate this timeline to be met.
Whilst the virus is having a big impact on life in China at present, it seems that due to the excellent way in which it is being handled, the government expects factories & production to be back to normal in a very short space of time. Certain services and industries have already being restarted in anticipation of the return to work.
As per government requirements – which are being strictly adhered to – ALL workers returning to our factories and manufacturing partners are kept in strict quarantine for 14 days, checked daily for any signs of the virus. We hope this does not impact the aforementioned timeline too much.
Our factories have employed the multi-stage control systems of using masks, sanitisation and temperature checks – as developed by the Ministry of Health (MoH) for the People’s Republic of China – to minimise the risks to all staff in our production facilities. This is also being applied – according to current Chinese law – in our Shenzhen Head Office as well.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC, USA) confirmed that there is currently no evidence to suggest that the virus is transferred via shipped items, leading us to believe that the physical boxes that are in transit for around 21 days are completely safe.
I continue to monitor the situation on an on-going basis, including receiving feedback from our factories and updates & directives from the Government and we will keep you informed of any updates as I get them.
As always, if there are any questions or concerns about any aspect of working with Atlas Furniture Asia, I invite you to contact me personally on peter@atlasfurnitureasia.com.
Best wishes,
Peter M. Brobyn
Director
Asia Furniture International Ltd.
t/a Atlas Furniture Asia
