CCBC and its member launch actions to help the country in a moment where infection cases are rising

By Sérgio Siscaro

The spread of the new coronavirus has created a situation that punishes more intensely the most underprivileged population of the country, in addition to pushing the public health system beyond its service capacity. For that reason, the Chamber of Commerce Brazil-Canada (CCBC) is taking initiatives that seek to contribute to the fight against the new coronavirus.

One of them is the CCBC Solidária (CCBC solidarity campain) campaign, in which basic food baskets (cestas básicas) are distributed to communities in a situation of social vulnerability. Each participant of the virtual events promoted by the Chamber has the option of purchasing a supportive ticket, and these resources are immediately directed to the purchase of basic food baskets. The initiative – in partnership with the Central Única das Favelas (Unique Central of Favelas – Cufa), responsible for the product distribution – had already enabled the donation of 1.6 tons of basic food baskets by the end of May.

Another initiative is extremely crucial at the moment in which an increase in the number of infection cases by the novel coronavirus is expected. The CCBC is financially contributing to the production of the OPA-01 pulmonary ventilator, by the members Empathy. It is a low-cost emergency respiratory support destined to hospitals treating Covid-19 patients.

The project, which relies on the participation of several companies, will allow the production of the equipment on a large scale – which is extremely important at this moment when several public health hospitals are affected by hospital beds overcrowding and lack of equipment.

Supportive Initiatives

The companies’ members with CCBC are also taking a series of initiatives that seek to minimize the difficulties presented by the novel coronavirus, both in Brazil and Canada. Regardless of the business sector, several companies seek to contribute to the fight against Covid-19 – whether by concrete actions or by sharing information, studies, and analyses that help understanding better the impacts of the current sanitary crisis.

These are some of the initiatives:

• Air Canada: Canadian airline company expands the offer of cargo flights in order to transport hundreds of tons of medical equipment, PPEs, pharmaceutical products, and consumer goods. The routes include five new destinations in South America and in Europe.
• Ancar Ivanhoe: Shopping Malls chain installs a drive-thru system for retail merchants, stimulating consumers to shop online and pick up their products safely.
• Bombardier: The Canadian company has transformed an executive jet, manufactured for a Finnish client, so to that, it could act on humanitarian assignments during the Covid-19 crisis.
• Genetec: Monitoring solution allows companies to access their security systems to determine the number of people, see data and manage occupation density rules in their facilities or stores – thus, contributing to social distancing and the containment of contamination cases.
• IBI Group: The company manufactures PPEs for healthcare professionals in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
• Kinross: Mining company allocates BRL 2.5 million to fight Covid-19 by purchasing 6 thousand fast-test kits for the healthcare system of the city of Paracatu (State of Minas Gerais), donating resources so that the local city hall may perform tests to prove the contamination by the novel coronavirus and participating in the purchase process of hospital ventilators.
• Klabin: The R&D area of the company, in partnership with Instituto Senai de Inovação em Biossintéticos e Fibras, is developing the production of hand sanitizer from microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) – which reduces the production costs.
• McCain Foods: In order to contribute to the fight against food insecurity caused by Covid-19, the company has donated around 9 thousand tons of potato to the Food Banks Canada, Second Harvest, and other Canadian organizations.

Strategic Information

In addition to these initiatives, many members have sought to contribute through articles or analyses in which the possible crisis impacts were debated:

• Allonda: The relationship between climate changes and the outbreak of diseases such as Covid-19 is analyzed in an article provided by the company on its website (https://allonda.com/blog/sustentabilidade/qual-e-a-relacao-entre-impactos-ambientais-e-o-surgimento-de-doencas/?utm_campaign=12_boletim_ccbc_-_covid-19&utm_medium=email&utm_source=RD+Station).
• Bella Materna: Startup for mothers and pregnant women intensifies its action through virtual services during the pandemic contributing with both patients and healthcare professionals.
• Correa de Castro & Associados: The law firm has analyzed the impacts of the pandemic in the contracts negotiation process in an article available on its website (https://www.correadecastro.com.br/2020/05/05/artigo-negocia%C3%A7%C3%A3o-em-tempos-de-pandemia.html?utm_campaign=12_boletim_ccbc_-_covid-19&utm_medium=email&utm_source=RD+Station).
• David & Athayde Advogados: In an article, the firm reflects upon the possible interpretations that might consider Covid-19 as an occupational disease (https://www.da.adv.br/covid-19/covid-19-pode-ser-considerada-doenca-ocupacional-e-agora/830/?utm_campaign=13_boletim_ccbc_-_covid-19&utm_medium=email&utm_source=RD+Station).
• Falconi: The firm analyzes how to adapt to the changes brought by Covid-19 and to be better prepared for the post-pandemic scenario (https://www.fiern.org.br/wp-content/uploads/mais-rn-covid19/Estudo_Completo_COVID19_Perspectivas_Falconi.pdf?utm_campaign=10_boletim_ccbc_-_covid-19&utm_medium=email&utm_source=RD+Station).
• Fresh Quality: The company contributes to the population’s health by explaining the benefits of fresh fruits and vegetables in order to minimize the chances of contamination by Covid-19. (https://www.freshquality.com.br/post/3-products-that-can-help-in-the-fight-against-covid-19?utm_campaign=15_boletim_ccbc_-_covid-19&utm_medium=email&utm_source=RD+Station).
• Future Education: Accelerator devoted to entrepreneurship in the education area analyses the impact of the novel coronavirus in Brazilian education (https://www.futureeducation.digital/cenario-brasil-futuro-da-aprendizagem?utm_campaign=10_boletim_ccbc_-_covid-19&utm_medium=email&utm_source=RD+Station).
• upLexis: The company has made available in its blog several orientations for companies to be able to maintain their integrity and compliance programs during the pandemic (https://uplexis.com.br/blog/compliance/como-fazer-para-manter-o-programa-de-integridade-em-tempos-de-covid-19/?utm_campaign=12_boletim_ccbc_-_covid-19&utm_medium=email&utm_source=RD+Station).

Constant Monitoring

CCBC also follows up closely with the spread of the novel coronavirus, both in Brazil and Canada. The Clipping Brasil-Canadá Covid-19 is a bulletin that brings the main repercussions of the pandemic, and also reports the initiatives taken by associates in both countries. In several webinars, the Chamber has been deeply analyzing the subject, serving as an important debate forum on the post-Covid-19 scenario in multiple industries of the Brazilian and Canadian economies, and helping companies from both countries to be prepared for the new reality.