Bracing for Life with the Coronavirus, Without Getting Worked Up

Various countries have instituted measures such as city-wide lockdowns and emergency declarations to curb the explosive spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) infections. But now we have been forced onto an agonizing course to balance the continuation of measures to prevent infection with the resumption of economic activity.

It is agonizing because once we restart economic activity, the rise in the number of infections will accelerate shortly thereafter. This relationship has been clearly demonstrated. If you are hopeful that the fight will be over, the bad news is that this is just the end of the beginning. There is no need to put too much pressure on ourselves, but for now we must once again brace for life with the coronavirus.

In the U.S., infections have risen to a high level in the western and southern states that rushed to resume economic activity. In Europe, which overcame its explosive spread of infections, and even in Japan, which narrowly avoided a similar outcome, the number of infections has begun to rise again. After inundating East Asia, Europe and the U.S., the tsunami of infections that began in China is now reaching developing countries such as Brazil, India and South Africa.

Nevertheless, few governments are trying to reinstate the large-scale measures like city-wide lockdowns that were initially taken to curb infections. Control measures such as shutdowns focused on specific regions can achieve a balance with the resumption of economic activity and will become the mainstream approach. This is because city-wide lockdowns have an enormous impact on the economy, an increasing number of companies would face financial difficulties, and low-income earners would be forced to make even tougher sacrifices as a result.

The basic approach to curbing infections has always been isolating infected people through testing, tracing and distancing. Combining this with the pinpoint measures described above is a common strategy being employed by various countries to minimize the number of severe cases and deaths while waiting for effective vaccines or therapeutics to arrive.

During all this, regular citizens are being asked to (1) wear masks, strictly enforce hand washing and thoroughly observe cough etiquette, (2) observe social distancing (ensuring enough distance between people) requirements, and (3) act with caution on commuter trains where large numbers of people are crowded into tight spaces, as well as at workplaces, gatherings, event venues and similar locations. This doesn't only protect you but also the precious people around you from getting infected, and by extension, it lowers the risk of infections across society as a whole.

As employees of the Ricoh Group, we should also continue to make social contributions as citizens in order to coexist with the coronavirus based on the actual conditions in our respective countries. At the same time, as symbolized by the provision of our telework system, there are likely ways to make use of the Ricoh Group's digital device and digital service technologies to reduce the risk of infections in the workplace and elsewhere. I hope you will continue doing your utmost to explore those possibilities.