How Retail Brands are Purposefully Fighting COVID
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How Retail Brands are Purposefully Fighting COVID

The second wave of Covid has impacted each one of us in one or another way. People tried their best to find ICU beds, oxygen tanks, and plasma donors, but their search didn't end. 

In order to help the country in its fight against Coronavirus, various brands are helping the people of India in combatting the recent sudden surge of COVID-19 cases.

Here is a glimpse of what various retail brands are doing:-

UNIQLO Parent Company Fast Retailing

To help the people of India in combatting the recent sudden surge of COVID-19 cases, Fast Retailing Co., Ltd., the parent company of global apparel retailer UNIQLO, announced that it is providing urgent support worth approximately Rs 220 million for those affected by this crisis. Fast Retailing will donate Rs 100 million to two highly respected non-profit organizations - GiveIndia and the Akshaya Patra Foundation. In addition, plans are underway to provide more than 600,000 UNIQLO AIRism masks to frontline workers.

Tadashi Yanai, Chairman, President, and CEO of Fast Retailing, said, "Fast Retailing is committed to helping the people of India, especially at this critical time. This is an emergency that requires global solidarity, and we hope that our contribution will support the immediate needs of those on the ground and help put the country on track to recovery. Our thoughts are with the people affected and the medical professionals working to provide care during these difficult times.”

Samsung India

Samsung India has donated 14,000 medical kits, 24 oxygen concentrators, and 150 oxygen cylinders to Karnataka, supporting its fight against the current surge of Covid-19. In addition to the aid for Karnataka, Samsung had earlier pledged $5 million to India's fight against Covid-19, providing donations to central and state governments, and boosting the healthcare sector with essential medical equipment for hospitals including 100 oxygen concentrators, 3,000 oxygen cylinders, and one million LDS syringes.

As part of its people's initiative, Samsung has also announced it will cover the vaccination costs for over 50,000 eligible employees and beneficiaries in India.

Amazon

In a bid to help India, in its fight against the second and more lethal wave of coronavirus, Amazon has sent critical medical equipment worth over $5 million to support hospitals and other Covid care facilities across India. The critical life-saving equipment includes 82 anesthesia ventilators, 1,238 BiPAP machines, and 60 ventilators. The medical equipment will be distributed to Amazon's on-the-ground community partners such as the American India Foundation, ACT Grants, and Swasth, who will distribute to verified hospitals and non-profit organizations across the country to ensure it reaches communities where it is needed the most.

Myntra 

Myntra has rolled out a slew of supportive measures, to help the platform’s marketplace brand partners traverse the difficult times. It has pledged to absorb Covid-19 related medical expenses, followed by offering structural relaxations on the operations front, such as the extension of timeframes on various commitments and waiver of fees among others, for the benefit of the brand partners.

With safety, health, and wellbeing taking precedence over all else, Myntra is offering all its 2,000 marketplace brand partners special Covid-19 insurance, with a coverage of up to Rs 300,000. In addition to this, Myntra is also reimbursing Covid-19 vaccination costs for the partners and two of their family members.

METRO Cash and Carry India

In the process to help employees and the community deal with the pandemic, METRO Cash and Carry India has introduced a few exceptional measures for its employees in India. These are not only to help them fight against the pandemic today but also protect them in present and safeguard the future. These measures include doubled-up life insurance, sponsorship of education, employment opportunities to the spouse of the deceased, and a dedicated war room for our employees.

METRO Cash and Carry India set up Covid war rooms across different zones in India, in order to facilitate seamless insurance hospitalization including beds), insurance process, ambulance support, oxygen support, plasma arrangement the insurance process without much hassle for METRO employees and off-roll employees to support them morally.

Flipkart

Walmart-owned Flipkart has announced a slew of measures, including waiver of various fees paid by sellers, to help small and medium businesses amid the deadly second wave of the Covid pandemic. Flipkart has exempted the storage fees to curb the impact that any seller may have on their inventory that is fulfilled through Flipkart's fulfillment centers.

The e-commerce major is also waiving the cancellation fee till May 31, 2021, for orders that may have been canceled due to lockdowns in various states. Besides, Flipkart will bear a 100 percent premium of Covid-19 insurance extended to all sellers, which covers hospitalization and consultation between Rs 50,000 to Rs 3 lakh.

 
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