The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic globally has shown that the virus pays no mind to borders and the fight to slow the outbreak is an international effort.
While the global supply chain remains largely intact, transporting samples of the coronavirus for testing and research presents its own set of unique challenges. In an effort to help out, Dallas-based SpotSee, a logistics-focused IoT end-to-end solutions provider, announced Wednesday plans to send 10,000 temperature indicators to the Mexican state of Chihuahua.
“With the state serving as a host to one of our manufacturing plants, the people of Chihuahua are part of our community, so we feel a responsibility to help however we can,” Gabriel Jurado, VP of manufacturing at SpotSee, said in a prepared statement. “By donating these monitors, SpotSee is leveraging its condition-monitoring expertise with the hopes of lessening the impact of COVID-19 and the spread of misinformation throughout Mexico.”
SpotSee has operations in Mexico, Brazil, China and Europe and has a number of brands to monitor shock, temperature and other environmental conditions throughout the supply chain to help companies manage their operations in real time. The company was acquired by St. Louis-based Harbour Group for an undisclosed amount in November 2019.
The move to send temperature indicators to Mexico comes on the heels of a similar announcement late last month to send 20,000 COVID-19 indicators to state health departments across the U.S. to help with their transportation of virus specimens.
“We want to do our part in helping maintain the health of our peers here and across the country, as well as our employees and their families,” said Tony Fonk, CEO at SpotSee, in a prepared statement at the time. “At its core, SpotSee is about prevention, which is what we’re hoping to do by donating these monitors.”
SpotSee has experience with using its technology to transport other coronaviruses during the SARS and H1N1 outbreaks of last decade. According to CDC guidelines, COVID-19 specimens need to be refrigerated with a temperature range of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius and need to be processed within 72 hours of collection. Failure to meet those guidelines cause a sample to be rejected, which could delay treatment of a patient or cause further backlog on overstrained testing sites.
While the virus has yet to spread in Latin America as much as it has in other parts of the world, Mexico’s response has been reported to be relatively slow, with lockdown measures being taken late last week. The country also has one of the lowest number of medical personnel per population, according to Reuters. As of yesterday, Mexico had 2,439 reported cases of COVID-19 with 125 deaths.
SpotSee is one of a number of North Texas companies offering their tech and help to fight the spread of the virus. Other local companies have offered assistance from making 3D printed respirators and brewing hand sanitizer to offering free telehealth services to connecting recently unemployed to part-time shifts.
“SpotSee aims to protect global citizens,” the company wrote in a statement.
