COVID-19 Disrupts Medical Supplies

The coronavirus first emerged in the Wuhan region of China, and the country has managed to recover considerably since then. There has been a sharp decline in the number of cases in the country, and many businesses are coming back online after being in lockdown for a considerable amount of time

Fremont, CA: The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unprecedented pressure on the global supply chain of all products and services. But the worst affected of all is the healthcare sector, as the industry tries to combat the spread of the highly contagious virus. The coronavirus first emerged in the Wuhan region of China, and the country has managed to recover considerably since then. There has been a sharp decline in the number of cases in the country, and many businesses are coming back online after being in lockdown for a considerable amount of time. As China recovers from the pandemic, the rest of the world continues to face a steep task in overcoming the challenge.

With cases growing at a rapid rate, there is an acute shortage of medical kits required to deal with the problem. Many major companies in the U.S. have converted their supply chain for the manufacture of critical supplies such as personal protective equipment, COVID-19 Test Kits, and ventilators. New open-source movements are stepping up around the world to try to address growing ventilator shortages. Multi-million dollars that usually take months to negotiate are being inked within hours amidst the crisis. However, the key challenge remains in the lack of trust between the demand, supply, and financing mechanism.

Government and Health Regulatory Authorities around the world have specific requirements for various procedures. In addition, these standards are also subject to weekly updates to allow for more supplies to come online to meet the forecasted demand. One of the most significant problems remains the governments' attempts to procure legacy systems that cannot move at a pace at which the crisis demands. As a result, a lot of countries fail to acquire the required supplies as they fail to implement a proper financial mechanism in time.

Another challenge is the credibility of the purchasers. To tackle this situation, a lot of suppliers are not demanding the payment upfront, which helps them identify credible buyers from intermediaries and brokers. Also, there is an increasing number of fraudulent production and fraudulent claims across the medical and personal protective equipment supply chain. This means that the equipment purchased may not arrive with the right specifications, at the right location, and at the right time.

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