UPS provides details of its plan to work and mobilize against coronavirus

Atlanta-based global freight transportation and logistics bellwether UPS said today it is taking a fully measured approach in its companywide efforts to sync up its resources with various organizations and agencies, including the President’s Coronavirus Taskforce, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and various state health agencies. The company added that its UPS Healthcare and UPS global operations are taking steps to collaborate with myriad companies and agencies in both the public and private sectors.

“UPS’s dedicated people, global network and public-private partnerships are creating a powerful combination for rapid deployment of protective equipment and test kits throughout the U.S., and around the world,” said UPS Chairman and CEO, David Abney in a statement. “UPS Healthcare has the expertise and experience to move vital, life-saving medicines, medical devices, diagnostic specimens and supplies everywhere they are needed.”

UPS officials said the company is increasing its collaboration with FEMA in order to provide supply chain services for the agency’s distribution of PPE (personal protective equipment) and necessary materials throughout the U.S., including respirators, N95 masks, and gloves for use by healthcare workers across the country. And it also noted that FEMA will have access to UPS’s expansive Worldport facilities in Louisville for temporary staging of critical shipments from overseas.

What’s more, the company presented a lengthy list comprised of the government agencies and companies it is collaborating with, focusing on efficient and rapid transportation of test kits, PPE, supplies, and medical devices, which includes:

• State health agencies, including California, Georgia and Kentucky, secure and set up testing sites at select locations. Offering to support to date to other states including Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin.
• Henry Schein is utilizing UPS to distribute and monitor personal protective equipment to medical  professionals as well as drive-through testing facilities across the U.S.;
• UPS is assisting McKesson by delivering PPE shipments onto military bases where military members and civilians returning from overseas are required to quarantine.  UPS has also shipped PPE to pop-up testing sites on behalf of McKesson;
• DuPont: UPS Next Day Air® services and UPS® Ground shipping solutions to support the distribution of DuPont-manufactured supplies for drive-through testing centers throughout the U.S.;
• Pharmatech: UPS will ship the first 10,000 test kits today, with ongoing shipments ramping to 20,000 kits every Monday, Wednesday and Friday moving forward;
• LetsGetChecked: UPS will provide distribution services for 50,000 test kits a day. LetsGetChecked is releasing a two-part test in the U.S. that offers an immediate indication, followed by a full CLIA-certified laboratory test. Frontline healthcare workers will be prioritized;
• Everlywell:  UPS is providing logistics expertise to assist Everlywell with distribution of test kits to hospitals, community clinics, nursing homes, and organizations with healthcare workers on the front lines. Test samples will be overnighted to CLIA-certified laboratories and digital results will be available in 48 hours; and
• AmerisourceBergen is utilizing UPS to support the distribution of critical, life-saving medications to physician offices, health systems and veterinary clinics so that patients can continue to receive the products – including chemotherapies, blood pressure medications and heart disease treatments – they depend on.

“The global UPS Healthcare team has mobilized in extraordinary ways around the world to bring all of our expertise, and highly specialized capabilities to serve the urgent needs of our healthcare and life science customers,” said UPS Healthcare President Wes Wheeler in a statement. “Our strength is our ability to be nimble in times of emergencies, whether natural disasters or pandemics, so we will continue to do our part to help us all through this challenge.”