Customer-Facing FAQs Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) How is the company responding to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak? Thermo Fisher Scientific has formed a business response team led by Mark Smedley, President of the Genetic Sciences Division (GSD), and Liz Kerr, GSD Insights, Transformation and Portfolio Leader, to effectively manage our efforts to support our customers with the technologies and solutions they need to respond to the nCoV outbreak and ensure a coordinated response across our businesses. We are working with government agencies and researchers in China and globally to ensure priority access to instruments, consumables, safety supplies and other products to support the response, particularly in analysis of the virus, detection and personal protection. We have also established a commerical microsite with products and information to support our customers working in response to the COVID-19 outbreak: www.thermofisher.com/coronavirus. This site initially covers our genetic analysis solutions and will be expanded to reflect a broader range of relevant products from Thermo Fisher. Where can I go to access all of the products that are part of the CDC and WHO protocols We have launched an initial customer-facing coronavirus landing page at www.thermofisher.com/coronavirus. This page initially covers our genetic analysis solutions for the COVID-19 outbreak and will be expanded to reflect a broader range of relevant products from Thermo Fisher. Do you anticipate any delays or issues within your supply chain? •
General Response (self-manufactured products) We are closely monitoring this rapidly evolving situation and any potential impact on our business to ensure we can continue to manufacture and deliver the products and services our customers rely on. This includes carefully managing our inventory, production and supply chains. At the present time, we are not experiencing any major supply issues.
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Response for channel business concerning personal protective equipment (i.e. face masks) There is increased demand for personal protective equipment such as respirators, surgical masks, coveralls, goggles, disposable face shields and gloves sold through our Fisher Scientific channel. Therefore, we are actively working with our key manufacturers to secure supply and prioritize shipments both into our distribution centers and directly to customers. There is currently a shortage of masks, but we are exploring various options and managing our inventory to ensure we can meet our commitments to customers, though we cannot guarantee fulfillment according to standard lead times.
What we are doing to minimize any potential disruption? We are closely monitoring this rapidly evolving situation and any potential impact on our business to ensure we can continue to manufacture and deliver the products and services our customers rely on. We are managing our own inventory and production and working with key suppliers so that we can best meet the needs of our customers and adjust to any changes in demand. Our business operations around the world have continuity plans in place to limit disruption to our customers in any crisis situation.
We are also committed to keeping you informed should there be any change that might affect timelines for the products or services we provide to you. Is our ability to transport goods within China, and to and from China, being affected? Shipments in and out of China have a delay, on average, of about 3-5 days. Shipping capacity within China is recovering after a steep reduction for several weeks. However, we have been able to manage any urgent shipments.. We’ll continue to monitor our supply chain as it relates to China and address any challenges so we can continue to support our customers. What's the likelihood of non-human transmission of the virus from goods being shipped from affected areas? We are taking our guidance from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO). According to the CDC, in general, because of poor survivability of these coronaviruses on surfaces, there is likely very low risk of spread from products or packaging that are shipped over a period of days or weeks at ambient temperatures. Coronaviruses are generally thought to be spread most often by respiratory droplets. Currently there is no evidence to support transmission of COVID-19 associated with imported goods and there have not been any cases of COVID-19 in the United States associated with imported goods. You can find the latest information from the CDC and the WHO as it becomes available. With news of infections at two Thermo Fisher facilities, are the products made at those locations contaminated with COVID-19? To date, the confirmed cases are among employees who work in a non-production capacity, so they were not in contact with products that we manufacture. What about Thermo Fisher operations in China‌are they open? To support healthcare locally and our customers globally, our manufacturing, warehouse and logistics facilities in China are in operation, and we have taken all precautions to protect our employees working at these sites.. What about operations at Thermo Fisher sites that have had to close due to confirmed cases of coronavirus? We have returned to normal operations at two sites in Europe where we had a very small number (four) of confirmed coronavirus cases. As soon as we learned the employees might have been exposed after contact with others who had traveled in high-risk areas, we closed the facilities for two days while awaiting test results and assessing any risk to other employees. We immediately adopted and followed all relevant local health guidelines, including taking several precautions to clean and disinfect both sites. We reopened after completing all protocols. Our goal is to protect the safety of our employees while also continuing to support the needs of our customers. Where should I go to escalate customer requests? Please continue to use your normal escalation channels or speak with your commercial leader. I visited a site within the last two weeks where a colleague has recently tested positive for the coronavirus. Should I self-quarantine? We have established strict protocols in the event of a confirmed case of coronavirus among our colleagues. This includes performing a thorough investigation to identify how, when and where the employee was exposed to the virus; when they were on site; and everyone they came into contact with. In additional to conducing a risk assessment for all colleagues based at the site, we also contact all vistors who came to the site during the time period in question so they are aware of any potential at risk and the
appropriate steps they should take. This is one of the reasons that we keep careful visitor logs at our sites. I am a customer-facing employee (commercial, field service, etc.) who regularly visits customer sites. I work/or recently visited a site where a colleague has tested positive for the coronavirus. Can I continue my work visiting customers? We have established strict protocols in the event of a confirmed case of coronavirus among our colleagues. This includes performing a thorough investigation to identify how, when and where the employee was exposed to the virus; when they were on site; and everyone they came into contact with. In additional to conducing a risk assessment for all colleagues based at the site, we also contact all vistors who came to the site during the time period in question so they are aware of any potential risk and the appropriate steps they should take. This is one of the reasons that we keep careful visitor logs at our sites. I am a customer-facing employee (commercial, field service, etc.) who regularly visits customer sites. I learned that there is a coronavirus case at my customer’s site. Is it safe for me to go there? Every situation is unique so you should have a discussion with your manager. We have also developed guidelines for sales and service colleagues who visit healthcare facilties.