Amazon is a global company made up of multiples businesses, and each one is looking for ways to help customers, communities, businesses, and its own employees combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
In response to the acceleration of the pandemic, Amazon Web Services is launching the AWS Diagnostic Development Initiative (DDI), pledging $20 million in technical support and in-kind credits to its AWS customers who are working to create rapid and accurate patient testing of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
The program will be open to accredited research institutions, research consortia, and private entities that are using AWS to support research-oriented workloads for the development of point-of-care diagnostics (testing that can be done at home or at a clinic with same-day results). The emphasis initially will be on COVID-19, but they will also consider other infectious disease diagnostic projects. Administrative workloads to run routine IT operations are not supported through this program.
Other actions Amazon has taken:
Temporarily stopped accepting shipments of non-essential items to their fulfillment centers in order to prioritize household staples, medical supplies and other high-demand products.
Blocked or removed tens of thousands of items by sellers that are price gouging high-demand items.
Adjusted Whole Foods store hours to accommodate vulnerable population, giving them an extra hour to shop in the morning before regular hours begin.
Increased cleaning in their physical and retail locations, including additional nightly cleaning. Increased cleaning of all global facilities.
Opened 100,000 new full and part-time positions to meet the increased demand of Amazon services.
Amazon employees diagnosed with COVID-19 or quarantined will receive up to 2 weeks additional pay.
Donated $1 million to kick-start emergency COVID-19 response funds that will immediately benefit the four largest Washington D.C. region community foundations that are working to support vulnerable populations impacted by the coronavirus outbreak.
Created a $5 million Neighborhood Small Business Relief Fund to provide cash grants to Seattle-area small businesses that need assistance to get through economic challenges related to COVID-19.
Contributed $1 million to a new Seattle Foundation fund for community members affected by COVID-19.
Facing the unknown
We hope you, your family, and your co-workers are healthy and coping well with the ever-evolving situation. This is a challenging time and a definite test of flexibility and adaptability for everyone. How has your business been affected by the virus? What have you or your employer done to adapt to the changing situation? Do you have any advice for other business owners or employees? What steps are you taking at home? Are you staying inside or still venturing out? What has been the biggest impact to you and your family? Tell us your story! Email us: inquiries@ripcordbrands.com or give us a call: (303) 536-5505.