Abstract

Covid-19 caught the world by surprise. Its impact on the community has been so deep that it affected the economy and livelihood of people. In tackling the impact of the pandemic, organizations together with government agencies worked together to mitigate its impact. On the government side, it established regulations, lockdowns and quarantine sites. The organization helped with food supplies, masks, respiratory devices, funds, and the provision of sanitizers. CSR programs in an organization occur in different ways through the employees, customers and the community. Managers play a critical role in implementing CSR programs through planning and overseeing their implementation. Implementation of CSR programs faces many challenges despite posing opportunities to an organization. Some of the opportunities include good customer service, organizational reputation and availability of financial resources. The article ends by providing recommendations that can help solve challenges hindering the implementation of the virus.

Corporate Social Responsibility during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Covid-19 caught the world by surprise. No country had planned or prepared for its inversion. The virus spread like wildfire, infecting many people and causing a lot of fatalities and economic hardship for individuals and organizations (Johnston, 2021). Even the national government operations were destabilized because it was forced to implement restrictions to curb the spread of the virus. According to Teng et al. (2021), the pandemic affected the well-being of people, the public health, hotels, manufacturing industries, logistics, and tourism industries. The employment rate in society declined as people were fighting for survival. As the positive cases of Covid-19 increased, hospitals and health workers were overwhelmed with work. Hospitals were overcrowded, and there was insufficient space for patients to be accommodated (Teng et al., 2021). Those infected with the disease were quarantined to prevent further spreading of the virus to the uninfected ones.

Non-Governmental agencies (NGOs) partnered with the government to support food, financial resources, evacuations, oxygen cylinders, and food for the affected families. For example, hotels provide quarantine rooms for travellers in a country and those who need to travel outside the country. According to WHO statistics, by the end of November 2020, the virus had infected about 54 million people, while around 1,313,919 people died due to the disease (Mahmud et al., 2021). The effect of the pandemic reached a point where it forced the World Health Organization to declare Covid-19 as a global pandemic. Dr Tedros Adhanom Gheebreyesus, the director-general of WHO, once said, “this is not just a public health crisis; it is a crisis that will touch every sector. So, every individual must be treated involved in the fight” (Durcharme, 2020). His statement shows the impact of the virus on the community.

Many people were devastated, confused and filled with anxiety during the pandemic period. A lot of information flowing through social media platforms causes more havoc and pain than solutions. Some individuals used the media to stigmatize people from the affected countries. For example, when the virus was first identified in China, the United States president went to his social media and wrote, “The United States will be powerful supporting those industries, like Airlines and others, that are particularly affected by the ‘Chinese Virus” (France-Presse, 2020). The president used the word “Chinese Virus” to signify that the virus was only capable of affecting the Chinese people.

Many leaders in various states come together to condemn the presidents’ statements. New York City mayor Bill de Blasio wrote in his tweet, “Our Asian-American communities – people You serve — are already suffering. They do not need you fueling more bigotry” (France-Presse, 2020). World Health Organization leaders and leaders from various sectors joined hands in rebuking Trump’s comments. People come together from all diversities with one goal, to support each other to cope with the virus through their businesses and homes. The achievements made as a result are unimaginable. Leaders took it as their responsibility to stop the spread of the virus (Mahmud et al., 2021). At the same time, responsible citizens educated the community members on how to live a healthy life. Some donated food while others clothing, shelter, and financial resources.

To help the community, the organization took it as their corporate social responsibility to help people affected, infected or not infected but in areas prone to the disease manage its spread and impact. One of the responsibilities is to provide food. For example, Peloton Interac