On January 30th, 2020, the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee of the World Health Organization (“WHO”) declared the outbreak of coronavirus, or COVID-19, a “public health emergency of international concern.” Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) have continued to climb within the US and across the globe leading the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare that COVID-19 officially be characterized as a pandemic on March 11, 2020.
While, according to WHO Director General the characterization COVID-19 does not change their original assessment of the threat posed by this virus, nor their recommendations for what countries should do to contain the spread of the virus, we realize this development raises concern.
As CEO of Hanzo, I want to take a moment to share what Hanzo is doing to respond to COVID-19 and to reassure clients of ongoing support during this unique situation.
Hanzo’s first priority is the safety and well-being of our employees, clients, families, and the communities in which we live and work. Our team is monitoring the COVID-19 public health emergency daily and are following all recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO), U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), NHS, and local authorities.
We’ve shared guidance with our employees regarding how to protect against transmission of the virus so they are fully informed and we have put measures in place that help ensure the safety of our employees, their families, and ensure business continuity for our clients.
We’ve also advised employees to work from home where possible. Given that we have a majority of employees who work remotely, this will not represent a significant shift for the business. For those who work in an office environment, we’ve advised them to take their laptops home with them so they can work from home should the need arise due to COVID-19.
As part of our standard business continuity plans, Hanzo maintains an operational infrastructure and business culture that enables high productivity while working remotely, ensuring our ability to support clients around the globe. It also allows us to greatly reduce the risk of exposure while maintaining adequate staffing levels to meet our client obligations. Our use of cloud computing within Amazon AWS and Google GCP for our infrastructure enables us to remotely manage all aspects of our technologies. Clients can rest assured that our focus on employee health and safety will not diminish our ability to deliver the highest quality and timely service to our clients.
In closing, as we navigate the uncertainty of a global pandemic, I would like to reaffirm our commitment to support the communities where we work and live. We’re in this together, and we stand ready to help.
