A light in the dark

May 27, 2020

There are three crucial ways that light is contributing to the fight against COVID-19

In these difficult times, it’s crucial that we all do what we can, as individuals and organizations, to meet the challenges of this pandemic head-on. At Signify, we’re marshaling our expertise in lighting to combat the virus – and it’s not just the visual property of light that’s making a difference right now.
 

Here are three key ways lighting is making a positive contribution to efforts to contain the spread and help us as a society move back towards normalcy.

 The Signify Foundation has procured and donated UV-C systems from OEMs to help with the disinfection of wards and rooms where COVID-19 infected patients are treated. These include mobile carts that are used for surface disinfection and air disinfection systems.
 

Going forward, there is a huge role for UV-C to assist in disinfecting public transportation, offices, industrial, public, and retail buildings, readying facilities for when activities resume and helping to keep people safe.

There’s also an urgent need for everyday functional lighting. We donated nearly 1,200 lamps and luminaires to a specialist hospital in Piła, Poland and around 1,000 luminaires to field hospitals in Valencia and Madrid, Spain. Lighting was also provided to a mobile hospital in Argentina. The hospital can be moved to any part of the country to help fight the virus.

Elsewhere, the Signify Foundation has switched the emphasis of its solar-powered lighting projects to prioritize medical facilities. In Uganda, 20 health centers have been early beneficiaries.

A closely related priority is to support businesses in order to protect employment. To this end, Signify is undertaking some temporary measures to protect .

These include the withdrawal of a proposed dividend to our shareholders; a 20% reduction in the salaries of our Leadership Team and Supervisory Board in the second quarter; and a 20% voluntary reduction in the working hours and pay for employees during the same period.
 

This pandemic is testing for all of us, as it challenges many of our accepted ways of life, strains our supply chain and medical infrastructure, and not least – poses grave health risks. The key to resilience is all of us, as individuals and institutions, doing everything in our power, to guide us through.