press release Chevron supports Thailand in the fight against COVID-19
Since last year, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has triggered widespread impact on the Thai society and economy. Related agencies including public health authorities have been vigorously implementing measures to curb the pandemic. Joining forces with these efforts, Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production, Ltd. has made a series of contributions to support frontlines medical staff and related government agencies’ activities with an aim to assist Thailand on the path to recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.
Chatit Huayhongtong President of Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production, Ltd., said “Chevron has operated in Thailand for nearly 6 decades and while providing reliable energy supplies for the Thai people, Chevron has also been committed to partnerships and investments in health, education and economic development to advance progress and strengthen communities where we operate as well as providing assistance in times of crisis. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Chevron has mobilized local teams to support public health agencies in addressing the pandemic’s impact. During the past year, with an approximate budget of 20 million baht, Chevron has provided much-needed medical supplies and funds to frontline health authorities as well as leverage invaluable innovation and expertise to empower government agencies to accelerate the progress towards an equitable, sustainable and resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Strengthening the front line to better tackle COVID-19
Chevron has been enacting a series of support initiatives to strengthen the medical sector’s COVID-19 response. This included the provision of medical supplies such as powered air purifying respirators, positive pressure isolation chambers, N95 masks, safety goggles and protective coveralls to hospitals and government agencies in provinces across Thailand such as Bangkok, Songkhla, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Chonburi and Samut Sakhon. CALTEX starcash cards worth 125,000 baht have also been donated to facilitate the transport of COVID-19 patients managed by Banphaeo General Hospital, Samut Sakhon Hospital, Krathumbaen Hospital, Nakhon Tha Chalom Hospital and Mae Sot Hospital. In addition, 500,000 baht has been given to Songkhla Nakarin Hospital foundation to support Songkla’s COVID-19 relief efforts.
Advancing resilience to future pandemics with R&D
Chevron has provided the research grant of 1 million baht to the Faculty of Veterinary Science, Faculty of Medicine, and Faculty of Science of Chulalongkorn University to implement their “K9 Dogs Sniff COVID-19” research project to train K9 dogs to bio-detect and screen COVID-19 patients. Initial results showed that trained K9 dogs were able to distinguish COVID-19 patients from healthy individuals with an accuracy of 94.8%. Recently, the project has been approved and granted permission from the Department of Disease Control to extend their operation to public areas in the near future. The project also attracted attention from other government agencies that wish to train bio-detection dogs for medical purposes. The project will not only contribute an important tool in combating COVID-19, key findings from this study can be further applied in bio-detection dog training to help identify other various illness in the future.
Supporting national vaccination mission in the race to herd immunity
To support the nation’s mass immunization plan to build herd immunity against COVID-19, Chevron has supplied Chulalongkorn Hospital and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s Medical Service Department with laptops and IT equipment worth a combined 2.7 million baht. The donation is aimed at speeding up public access to available vaccines and at ensuring quality service during vaccinations.
Moreover, Chevron’s IT and process improvement experts have conducted onsite surveys to help design more effective workflows of a COVID-19 vaccine distribution center in Samut Sakhon, using a Design Thinking approach. The optimized workflow has been proposed to the Public Health Ministry for onsite adoption at all 5 COVID-19 vaccine distribution centers in the province. These service centers are expected to vaccinate around 10,000 people per day.
Artit Krichphiphat, Business Support General Manager, Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production, Ltd., said “In addition to the existing relief efforts, Chevron is in the process of procuring additional medical supplies as well as seeking opportunities to provide continued technical and financial support to related agencies. Our investments are aimed at strengthening Thailand’s mission navigating the current crisis as well as supporting capacity building to sharpen the response to future pandemics. As the human energy company, we believe in the power of humanity to solve any challenge. Together with our partners, we will overcome the challenges of this crisis”.
