VIRTUOS' SITUATION IN CHINA DURING THE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK - JANUARY 31st

As the outbreak of the Coronavirus has dominated the news recently, some of you must be wondering about the current situation in China and what Virtuos is doing about it.

The 5 most important updates from Virtuos during the Coronavirus outbreak are as follows:

1.) All Virtuos staff are well and accounted for, with no signs of infection reported. In general, they are a little stressed by the restrictions imposed to slow down the spread of the infection, but they are safe at home for the most part.

2.) Less than 35 of our staff (below 2%) travelled to a 'high risk' area (i.e. Hubei region, Wuhan city). As such, they are currently staying with their family and awaiting authorization to travel back home. They will also have to take special precautions before returning to work.

3.) On Monday January 27th, the Chinese government extended the Chinese New Year holidays until February 2nd and Shanghai government extended until February 9th . As of January 31st, our staff in Xian and Chengdu are reporting very reduced local transportation available making it difficult for them to go to work. We have therefore decided to also extend holidays in Xian and Chengdu until the 9th, with all 3 studios due to fully reopen on the Monday February 10th.

4.) Our clients should therefore expect at least a week’s delay in deliveries. We will be taking measures to alleviate the situation, such as working remotely to communicate with them, adjusting plans to their priorities and having some volunteer teams conduct work on the most urgent projects. If you are one of our clients and have not yet heard from us, please contact your liaison Account Manager or Producer; they should all be online and able to respond from today.

5.) Meanwhile, we suggest that anyone with existing travel plans to China should postpone or cancel them until further notice, not so much because it is unsafe but for the risk of being caught in the middle of travel restrictions imposed to reduce the spread of the virus.

Below are additional details for context:

Virtuos has 3 studios in Shanghai, Chengdu and Xi'an, employing around 1,400 staff. On Monday January 27th, the Chinese government issued a notice to extend the Spring Festival holidays as an important measure to prevent the spread of pneumonia stemming from the Coronavirus (nCov). Some cities like Wuhan, where the outbreak began, have been labelled as 'high-risk' areas. Fortunately, our studios are not located in these high risk areas - in fact, our three cities are among the least affected in China.

Our HR and China studio leadership have been in touch with their respective staff members throughout the holidays, and should be commended for their level of support under these stressful circumstances. The bulk of information about the outbreak and our internal statuses currently circulates through the WeChat messaging platform, which is our primary means of communication.

We have also put in place a workgroup for the Coronavirus situation comprising the China Studio Managers and other Senior Managers, to coordinate the first measures and communications with our teams. These measures include:

- Ensuring everyone is safe and accounted for.

- Applying and relaying guidelines from various government agencies.

- Preparing for safe return to work when it is authorized, including enhanced cleaning and sanitation.

- Implementing remote work solutions for staff who cannot return to work.

- Updating plans for our clients and informing them.

Some of us have been through a similar outbreak in 2003 with SARS. If anyone wishes to better understand the current situation on the ground and how we can win this battle, I would recommend this article: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/28/opinion/coronavirus-prevention-tips.html. You will note that while common sense measures need to be taken, life must also carry-on and this is what we intend to do.

The situation is no doubt unique, but we are very hopeful that the outbreak will be contained rapidly, based on the lessons learnt since 2003.

Let's wish our teams in China all the best - we will keep you updated as the situation evolves. Thank you.

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