Shortages related to the COVID-19 pandemic

For broader coverage of this topic, see 2021–2023 global supply chain crisis.

Surgical and N95 masks shortages were critical during the early pandemic, resulting in purchase quota, non-availability, lower-than-required protections and tarmac airport bidding wars. Here a supermarket in Beijing imposes daily buying limits on surgical masks and disinfectant liquid

The landscape of shortages changed dramatically over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, extreme shortages emerged in the equipment needed to protect healthcare workers, diagnostic testing, equipment and staffing to provide care to seriously ill patients, and basic consumer goods disrupted by panic buying. Many commercial and governmental operations curtailed or suspended operations, leading to shortages across "non-essential" services. For example, many health care providers stopped providing some surgeries, screenings, and oncology treatments. ^[1] In some cases, governmental decision making created shortages, such as when the CDC prohibited the use of any diagnostic test other than the one it created.^{[ citation needed ]} One response was to improvise around shortages, producing supplies ranging from cloth masks to diagnostic tests to ventilators in home workshops, university laboratories, and rapidly repurposed factories. ^[2]

As these initial shortages were gradually remedied throughout 2020/2021, a second group of shortages emerged, afflicting industries dependent on global supply chains, affecting everything from automobiles to semiconductors to home appliances, in part due to China's determination to eliminate COVID-19 from its population by enforcing stringent quarantines and shutdowns, in part by disruptions to goods distribution, and in part by forecasting errors. ^[3]

Shortages were concentrated in America, Europe, Latin America, and China, while other jurisdictions were much less affected, for a variety of reasons.

Background

See also: Pandemic predictions and preparations prior to COVID-19

Historically, governments were the primary source of supplies for pandemics. Their willingness to maintain large stocks has tended to vary with the severity of the most recent pandemic. For example, in the early 2000s, President George W. Bush increased US pandemic stockpiles. ^[4] These were depleted in the 2009 swine flu pandemic. The pandemic was seen by the public as mild, which led to a backlash over preparedness spending. ^{[5] [6]} National stockpiles of medical equipment were not systematically renewed, in the US or in jurisdictions such as France, ^{[7] [8] [9]} which in 2013 moved responsibility for personal protective equipment (PPE) stockpiles to public and private enterprises. ^[7] The French strategic stockpile dropped from one billion surgical masks and 600 million FFP2 masks in 2010 to 150 million and zero, respectively, in early 2020. ^[8]

Manufacturing for many types of health-related equipment had moved offshore, seeking lower costs. American mask manufacturer Prestige Ameritech warned for years that the USA mask supply chain was too dependent on China. ^[10]

Public (World Health Organization (WHO), World Bank, Global Preparedness Monitoring Board) ^[11] and private initiatives emphasized pandemic threats and preparation. In 2015, Bill Gates began warning about a possible pandemic. ^{[12] [13]} This had little impact: WHO's pandemic influenza preparedness project had a US$ 39 million two-year budget, out of WHO's 2020–2021 budget of US$ 4.8 billion. ^[11]

In 2018, China experienced a shortage of emergency drugs. ^[14] In 2019, the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board reported the WHO's pandemic emergency fund remained was depleted by the 2018–19 Kivu Ebola pandemics. ^[11]

As COVID-19 spread in January 2020, China began blocking exports of various medical supplies, including N95 masks, booties, and gloves produced by factories on its territory. ^[15] Organisations close to the Chinese government began foreign markets for supplies. ^{[16] [17]} This limited other countries' access. ^[18]

Tests

See also: COVID-19 testing

Initial testing shortages were a key factor limiting authorities ability to measure disease spread. ^[19] Because the virus was new, tests had to be designed, manufactured, distributed, administered, and evaluated from a standing start. The ability to do this varied dramatically across jurisdictions. Germany started producing and stockpiling COVID-19 tests in January 2020. ^[20]

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) initially demanded that universities and other researchers abandon their attempts to make diagnostic PCR tests in favor waiting for the CDC to release its own tests. The CDC then distributed 160,000 defective tests, leaving the US with no testing capacity in the early weeks of the pandemic. By February 27, fewer than 4,000 tests had been conducted in the U.S. ^[21] CDC released a corrected test in March 2020. ^[22] By then the pandemic had spread across the country. The Associated Press reported that "the system has been marked by inconsistencies, delays, and shortages", forcing many people with symptoms to wait hours or days to get tested and then days longer to receive the results. ^[23]

Many countries did not have the ability to implement large-scale testing, lacking both tests and the health care infrastructure to administer and evaluate them.

Reagents

In Ireland and the United Kingdom (UK), reagent shortages limited the number of tests evaluated through March and April. ^[24] Reagent shortages became a bottleneck for mass testing in the European Union (EU). ^[25]

On 1 April, the UK government confirmed that 2,000 NHS staff had been tested for coronavirus since the outbreak began, but Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said a shortage of reagents meant it was not possible to screen the NHS's 1.2 million workforce. ^[26] Gove's statement was contradicted by the Chemical Industries Association, which denied any shortage. ^[27]

Some US hospitals manufactured their own reagents from publicly-available recipes. ^{[28] [29] [30]}

Swabs

The US Strategic National Stockpile held no swabs, forcing reliance on commercial supplies, which were soon exhausted by the explosive growth in testing. ^[31] The US had shortages, despite the fact that one domestic manufacturer increased production to 1 million swabs per day in March, ^[32] and the government funded it to build a new factory in May. ^[31] Shortages arose in the UK, but were resolved by 2 April. ^[33]

In May 2020, the US FDA licensed a swab-free saliva test and new swab designs, ^[31] including 3-D printed swabs that labs, hospitals, and other medical facilities could make themselves. ^[34] The development process took as little as two weeks. ^[35]

Personal protective equipment

Personal protective equipment (PPE) stocks ran out around the world in the winter of 2020. People from 86 countries engaged in the voluntary production of PPE to supplement disrupted supply chains. ^[36] By summer 2021, shortages had turned to glut, as many manufacturers reduced production. ^[37]

China

California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks about PPE shortages and purchases in May 2020.

Before the pandemic, most PPE was made in China. The Chinese government took control of stocks from foreign enterprises whose factories produced these goods. ^[38] At the outset, China imported some 2.46 billion pieces of PPE between 24 January and 29 February, including 2.02 billion masks and 25.38 million items of protective clothing. ^{[16] [39] [40] [41] [42]}

In February 2020 WHO minimised the need for PPE, recommending telemedicine; physical barriers such as clear windows; isolating patients; using only PPE necessary for each specific task; reusing respirators without removing them while caring for multiple patients with the same diagnosis; monitoring and coordinating supply chains; and discouraging masking for asymptomatic individuals. ^[43]

China later sent supplies to Spain, Turkey, and the Netherlands that were of poor quality. The Dutch health ministry recalled 600,000 face masks on 21 March for poor fit and dysfunctional filters despite them having a quality certificate. ^{[44] [45]} The Spanish government discovered that 60,000 out of 340,000 test kits from a Chinese manufacturer produced inaccurate results. ^[45] The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded that the customer should "double-check the instructions to make sure that you ordered, paid for and distributed the right ones. Do not use non-surgical masks for surgical purposes". ^[45] In mid-May, the European Commission suspended an order of 10 million Chinese masks after two countries reported receiving sub-standard products. After a batch of 1.5 million masks was distributed, Poland said the 600,000 items they received had no European certificates nor did they comply with the necessary standard. ^[46]

Hand sanitiser

An empty hand sanitiser shelf at a pharmacy in Kep, Cambodia, the day after the first reported COVID-19 case in the country

Hand sanitiser went out of stock in many areas, ^{[47] [48]} causing high prices. ^[49] In response, brewers and distillers began to produce hand sanitizer. ^{[50] [51] [52]}

Protective gear

Initial shortages were such that some nurses at one New York City hospital resorted to wearing garbage bags as an alternative to unavailable protective clothing. ^[53] Small businesses throughout the United States retooled to produce makeshift protective devices, often through open source initiatives. Many manufacturers donated gear. An example is the COVID-19 Intubation Safety Box, which is an acrylic cube placed over an infected patient's torso, with openings that allow ventilator intubation and extubation while minimising risk to healthcare workers. ^[54]

Plexiglass box to screen patients during intubation

Amazon banned sales of N95 face masks to prevent price gouging. ^[55]

In March 2020, Doctors' Association UK alleged that shortages were covered up through intimidating emails, threats of disciplinary action and work suspensions. Some doctors were disciplined by managers annoyed by online postings online regarding shortages. ^[56] On 18 April, communities secretary Robert Jenrick reported that 400,000 protective gowns and other PPE were on their way to the U.K. from Turkey. ^[57] One day later, these were delayed, leading hospital leaders to criticise the government for the first time. ^[58] Only 32,000 items arrived (less than one-tenth). ^[59] Eventually, all were returned to Turkey for failure to meet NHS standards. ^[60]

Most of the world's glove supply comes from Malaysia; ^{[61] [62]} Large orders with trusted companies were typically made "years in advance". Malaysia-based Top Glove and its subsidiary TG Medical were accused of violations of workers' rights, leading U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to ban their products in July 2020. ^[61] Thai company Paddy the Room repackaged used gloves and sold tens of millions to U.S. buyers in 2021. ^[62]

Masks

See also: Surgical mask, Cloth face mask, and Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic

China

People in Wuhan lining up in front of a store to buy medical supplies

As the pandemic accelerated, the mainland market saw a shortage of face masks. ^[63] Hoarding and price gouging drove up prices, leading the market regulator to crack down. ^{[64] [65]} In January 2020, price controls were imposed on face masks on Taobao, Tmall ^[66] JD.com, ^[67] Suning.com, ^[68] and Pinduoduo; ^[69] third-party vendors were subject to price caps, and violators to sanctions.^{[ citation needed ]}

United States

In 2006, 156 million masks were added to the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile in anticipation of a flu pandemic. ^[6] After they were used against the 2009 flu pandemic, neither the Obama administration nor the Trump administration replenished the stocks. ^[6] By 1 April, the US stockpile was nearly empty. ^[70]

National Nurses United, the largest organization of registered nurses in the United States, filed over 125 complaints with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) offices charging hospitals with failing to comply with laws mandating safe workplaces. ^[71]

France

In 2010, France's stock included 1 billion surgical masks and 600 million FFP2 masks; in early 2020 it had fallen 150 million and zero, respectively. ^[8] As the pandemic consumed supplies, stocks ran low and caused national outrage. ^[72] France instructed its remaining mask-producing factories to work 24/7 shifts, and to expand national production to 40 million masks per month. ^[72]

13 April 2020. Outside UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica. NNU nurses protest lack of N-95 masks & other protective equipment.

Competition for supplies

Countries such as the UK, France, Germany, South Korea, Taiwan, China, India, and others initially responded to the outbreak by limiting or banning exports of medical supplies, including rescinding existing orders. ^{[73] [74]} Germany blocked exports of 240,000 masks bound for Switzerland ^{[75] [76]} and stopped other shipments to Czechia. ^[77] Turkey blocked a shipment of ventilators to Spain; ^[78] 116 were later released. ^[79]

Governments began competing with each other to obtain medical supplies, either through paying higher prices or seizing equipment. ^[78] Slovakian prime minister Peter Pellegrini said the government was preparing to purchase masks from a Chinese supplier. He then said, "However, a dealer from Germany came there first, paid more for the shipment, and bought it." ^{[80] [81]} Ukraine lawmaker Andriy Motovylovets stated, "Our consuls who go to factories find their colleagues from other countries (Russia, USA, France, Germany, Italy, etc) who are trying to obtain our orders. We have paid upfront by wire transfer and have signed contracts. But they have more money, in cash. We have to fight for each shipment." ^[80] San Marino authorities said they arranged a bank transfer to a supplier in Lugano, Switzerland, to buy a half-million masks to be shared with Italian neighbours, but were outbid. ^[82]

Germany snatched 830,000 surgical masks that were arriving from China and destined for Italy before Italian authorities persuaded Germany to release them. ^{[83] [84]} 1.5 million face masks that were supposed to be shipped from Spain to Slovenia were seized by German agents. ^[85] French guards confiscated lorries filled with 130,000 face masks and boxes of sanitisers bound for the UK. ^[86] Italian customs police hijacked some 800,000 imported masks and disposable gloves on their way to Switzerland. ^[82]

Trade in medical supplies between the United States and China became politically complicated. Exports of face masks and other medical equipment to China from the United States (and many other countries) spiked in February, according to statistics from Trade Data Monitor, prompting criticism from the Washington Post that the United States government failed to anticipate the domestic needs for that equipment. ^[87] Similarly, The Wall Street Journal raised concerns that US tariffs on imports from China threaten imports of medical supplies. ^[88]

Reuse

Can facial masks be disinfected for re-use? [89]
Cleaning method	Meltblown fibre filtration media		Static-charged cotton		E. coli. Disinfection
	Filtration (%)	Pressure drop (Pa)	Filtration (%)	Pressure drop (Pa)
Masks before treatment	96.76	8.33	78.01	5.33	(no E.coli)
70 °C hot air in oven, 30 min.	96.60	8.00	70.16	4.67	>99%
Ultraviolet light, 30 min.	95.50	7.00	77.72	6.00	>99%
5% alcohol soaking, drying	56.33	7.67	29.24	5.33	>99%
Chlorine-based, 5 min.	73.11	9.00	57.33	7.00	>99%
Vapor from boiling water, 10 min.	94.74	8.00	77.65	7.00	>99%

Mask shortages led to attempts to sanitise and reuse them.

FFP2 masks can be sanitised by 70 °C vapour. Sanitisation is not always simple. Alcohol disrupts N95 mask microfibres' static charge. ^[89] Chlorine fumes may be harmful. ^[89]

A Singaporean study found no contamination on masks after brief care of COVID-19 patients, suggesting masks could be reused for multiple patients. ^[90]

DIY

Individuals and volunteers produced cloth masks for themselves and others. Various designs were shared online. ^[91] 3D-printed "NanoHack" masks allowed hand-cut surgical mask to act as fine-particle filters. ^[92]

Novel mask accessories were created by makers around the world using open source designs such as ear savers to make extended mask use more comfortable. ^[93]

Makers improvised Arduino-controlled disinfection boxes, with temperature controls, to safely sanitise masks. ^[94]

Face shields

A 3D-printable face shield frame

Makers learned to produce face-shields, ^[92] although these turned out to be of marginal value, as SARS-CoV-2 turned out to be airborne and able to evade the protections that face shields provide.^{[ citation needed ]} They collectively produced a total of at least 25 million face shields with techniques including 3D printing, laser cutting, and Injection molding. ^[95]

Medical care devices

Critical care or ICU beds, ^[96] mechanical ventilation ^{[97] [98]} and ECMO devices ^[99] were critical bottlenecks early in the pandemic.

Oxygen masks

Common snorkelling masks have been adapted into oxygenation masks via minor changes and 3D-printed adapters.

Popular snorkelling masks were adapted into oxygen dispensing respiratory masks via the usage of 3D printed adapters. ^{[92] [100] [101]} According to Italian law usage by a patient requires a signed declaration of acceptance of an uncertified biomedical device. ^[101] The project provided 3D files for free, as well as forms to register hospitals in need and 3D makers willing to produce adapters. ^[101] In France, sportswear and snorkelling mask producer Decathlon redirect its mask output toward the pandemic. ^[102] An international collaboration included Decathlon, BIC, Stanford. ^[103]

Maker group Plan B in Romania produced more than 2,000 modified snorkeling masks to combat the pandemic. ^[104]

Intensive care beds

See also: List of countries by hospital beds

In early March, the UK government supported a strategy to develop herd immunity to COVID-19, drawing criticism from medical personnel and researchers. ^[105] Spooked by wildly exaggerated forecasts by the Imperial College COVID-19 Response Team ^[106] that the demand for intensive care beds would exceed the inventory by 7.5, ^[107] around 16 March, the UK government switched to a mitigation/suppression strategy. ^[105]

In France, around 15 March, the Grand Est region noted the scarcity of CCB. ^[108] Assistance-publique Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), which manages most hospitals in the Paris area (~10 million inhabitants), reported the need for 3,000–4,000 ICU beds ^[109] against a capacity of between 350 ^[110] and 1500. ^[109]

In France, given shortages of ICU hospital beds in Grand Est and Ile-de-France regions, severe but stable patients with ARS and breathing assistance have been moved toward other regional medical centers within France, Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, or Switzerland. ^[111]

Mechanical ventilation

Mechanical ventilation was initially called "the device that becomes the decider between life and death" ^{[112] [ better source needed ]} because 3.2% of detected cases were thought to need ventilation during treatment. Ventilator shortages are endemic in the developing world. ^[113] In case of shortage, triage strategies had been discussed. One strategy was to grade the patient on dimensions such as prospects for short-term survival, prospects for long-term survival, stage of life; pregnancy and fairness. ^[98] The original 15 to 20 day intubation duration was a complicating factor in the shortage. ^[114]

Official assessments

In the 2000s, the CDC estimated a national shortage of 40–70,000 ventilators in case of pandemic influenza. This assessment led to Project Aura, a public-private initiative to design a $3,000 simple to mass-produce ventilator that could supply the Strategic National Stockpile. Newport Medical Instruments won the contract, designing and prototyping (2011) the ventilators, and expecting to later profit by moving into the private market where competing devices were sold for $10,000. In April 2012, Health and Human Services officials confirmed to the US Congress that the project was on schedule to file for market approval in late 2013, after which the device would go into mass-production. In May 2012, US$12 billion medical conglomerate Covidien acquired Newport for $100 million. Covidien soon asked to cancel the contract. Former Newport executives, officials and executives at rival ventilator companies claimed that Covidien acquired Newport to avoid disturbing its market. Covidien merged in 2015 into Medtronic. Project Aura contracted with Philips healthcare. In July 2019, the FDA signed for 10,000 units of their Trilogy Evo portable ventilator to be delivered to the SNS by mid-2020. ^[115]

On 25 March 2020, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo ^{[116] [117]} forecasting a severe ventilator shortage. ^[118] Cuomo claimed his state would need about 30,000 ventilators to handle the pandemic, against an inventory of 4,000. On 27 March, President Donald Trump stated "I don't believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators", ^{[119] [118]} but later that day invoked the Defense Production Act to accelerate production. ^[120]

Industrial suppliers

In Europe, Löwenstein Medical had been producing 1,500 ICU-level and 20,000 home-level ventilators annually for France alone. The company pointed out the production shortage. ^[121] Their components were of European origin. ^[121] It recommended focusing on home-level ventilators that could be assembled in 30 minutes. ^[121] The bottleneck was trained workers. ^[121] ICU-level ventilators typically lasted 10 to 15 years. ^[121] Germany and other European country started to take control over the company's output. ^[121]

Chinese manufacturers also increased production. ^[122]

Medtronic made ventilator design specifications publicly available. ^[123]

Improvised ventilators

See also: Open-source ventilator

The Open Source Ventilator's OpenLung project, an open source, low resource, quick deployment mechanical ventilator design that uses a bag valve mask (BVM or Ambu-bag) as a core component.

The United Kingdom identified a ventilator shortage in 2016 during the NHS's Exercise Cygnus, but government stockpiles remained insufficient. ^[125] In March, the British government called for industry to make ventilators for the NHS. Dyson and Babcock revealed plans to create 30,000 ventilators. The Ventilator Challenge involved companies such as Airbus, Rolls-Royce and Ford. ^[126] This was seen as inadequate; the proposed ventilators would not have been useable in hospitals. None of the companies reached the final stages of testing and the majority were unneeded. ^[127]

Another strategy is to modify circuits to ventilate multiple patients simultaneously from one ventilator. Anesthetist Dr. Alan Gauthier from Ontario, Canada, demonstrated turning one single-patient ventilator into a nine-patient device thanks to a 2006 YouTube video by 2 doctors from Detroit. ^[92] This and similar methods described for ventilator sharing used T-shaped tubes to split airflow and multiply the number of patients provided with respiratory support. ^[128] Ventilator sharing was limited by differing lung compliance between the patients (leading to different, possibly harmful, differences in tidal volume delivered to each patient), pendelluft between patients in the circuit, as well as the potential to spread pathogens between the patients. ^[128]

In Ireland, volunteers started the Open Source Ventilator Project in collaboration with medical staff. ^[92]

The fully open-source PVP-1 ventilator, developed at Princeton University.

In the United States, various teams such at MIT ^[130] or Princeton ^[129] developed open ventilator technology.

In Italy, a local journalist and journal director Nunzia Vallini of the Giornale di Brescia (Brescia Daily) was informed that nearby Chiani hospital was running out of valves which mix oxygen with air and are therefore a critical part of reanimation devices. ^[112] The valves supplier was itself out of stock leading to patient deaths. ^[112] Vallini contacted FabLab founder Massimo Temporelli, who invited Michele Faini, an expert in additive manufacturing and a research and development designer at Lonati SpA to join a 3D printing effort. ^[112] When the supplier refused to share design specifics, they reverse-engineered the valves and produced a not-for-profit series for local hospitals. ^[112] Ventilator splitter valves were used as a last-resort. ^[131]

Hackers of the Ventilator Project proposed to re-purpose CPAP machines (sleep-apnea masks) as ventilators, hacking single ventilators to split air-flow and treat multiple patients, and using grounded aircraft as treatment facilities to leverage their oxygen-mask-per-seat infrastructure. Engineers familiar with device design and production, medical professionals familiar with existing respiratory devices and lawyers able to navigate FDA regulations were participants among the 350 volunteers involved. The central avenue of exploration was to abandon advanced features, including electronics and patient monitoring, to focus solely on respiration by pressured airflow. The group used an old Harry Diamond Laboratories "emergency army respirator" model to study. ^[132]

Shared Ventilation

Shared ventilation was an idea to fit six people one on ventilator, freeing up five ventilators for use by others. Simulations indicated that this would increase resistance to the extent that it didn't help patients. Increasing the settings restored ventilator function. ^[133]

Facilities

Hospitals

As Wuhan's situation worsened and to assist the overwhelmed Central Hospital of Wuhan and Dabie Mountain Regional Medical Centre, China built two emergency field hospitals within a few days: the Huoshenshan Hospital and Leishenshan Hospital. The hospitals were phased out in March 2020. ^{[134] [135]}

French President Emmanuel Macron announced a military hospital would be set up in the Grand-Est region, to provide up to 30 ICU beds. ^[136] The hospital was tested 7 days later. ^[137]

By 8 March, Lombardy had created 482 new ICU beds. ^[138] Lodi's ICU director reported that every square metre and every aisle of the hospital had been re-purposed for severe COVID-19 patients, increasing ICU beds from 7 to 24. ^[138] In Monza, 3 new wards of 50 beds each were opened on 17 March. ^[138] In Bergamo, gastrology, internal medicine, neurology services were repurposed. ^[138]

In the UK, almost the entire private health stock of beds was requisitioned, numbering 8,000 beds. ^[139] Three Nightingale Hospitals were created by NHS England and the military, to provide an additional 10–11,000 critical care beds, another 1,000-bed hospital in Scotland, and a 3,000-bed hospital at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff. Temporary wards were constructed in hospital car parks, and existing wards re-organised to free up 33,000 beds in England and 3,000 in Scotland. ^[140] A hangar at Birmingham Airport was converted into a 12,000 body mortuary. ^[140]

Morgues

Shortages of space in New York City morgues led the city to propose temporary burial in parks. ^[141]

Health workers

Healthcare workers also were in critically short supply in some jurisdictions. The pandemic filled many hospitals and limited the personnel who were equipped to care for patients. Training requirements further limited resources, while numerous staff themselves became infected.

Laboratory workers were brought into the limelight as the COVID-19 testing skyrocketed. Laboratory staff was already reduced, as well as funding shortages, so the pandemic created another strain on those already present issues. ^[142]

Mitigations included recruiting military and sports medics, final-year doctors in training, private sector staff, and re-recruiting retired staff and those who have moved from the medical sector. For non-medical roles, staff have been recruited from other sectors.^{[ citation needed ]}

Various health care systems resorted to increasing patient to nurse ratios when patient loads rose, leading nurses to higher mortality rates, burnout, and dissatisfaction. ^[143]

Isolation and trauma

See also: Mental health during the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic

The American Medical Association created a guide for healthcare organizations to reduce psychosocial trauma and increase the resilience of medical staff. ^[144]

Paola, Valentine, and Rossella reported that healthcare professionals experienced an impact on their mental health, including stress, anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders, which in some cases, exacerbated staff shortages as workers attempted to cope with high case fatality rates early in the pandemic. ^[145]

Sickness and death

In Italy, at least 293 doctors died from COVID-19 by mid-2022. ^[146]

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a form of pneumonia in which air sacs become filled with fluid leaking from the capillaries lungs. Associated inflammation and edema decrease lung compliance, requiring more aggressive treatment and often landing patients in the ICU. ^[147]

In mid-March 2020 in Lombardy, medical staff reported high levels of staff infections. ^[138] In Lodi, doctors from other services have been called to attend Covid patients. ^[138] In Cremona, patient admissions were three times normal, with only 50% of staff available. ^[138] On 12 March 8% of Italy's 13,382 cases were health workers. ^[138] Between 5 and 10% of deaths were medical staff. ^[138] On 17 March, one of the largest hospital of the Bergamo region ran out of ICU beds, and patients were flown to other regions. ^[138]

About 14% of Spanish cases in March 2020 were medical staff. ^[148]

In the United States, about 62,000 healthcare workers had tested positive by late May 2020; while 291 had died (0.47%). ^[149]

By late May, Mexico had 11,000 medical staff detected as infected, depleting medical ranks. ^[150]

Industrial products

Commodities

The pandemic increased consumer demand for propane because more people stayed home during winter, increasing the need for domestic heating and cooking. In the United States, shortages of propane were reported in Kentucky, Louisiana, and Wisconsin in January 2021. ^{[151] [152] [153]}

In the United States the pandemic caused a shortage of lumber ^[154] and steel in 2021. ^[155]

Semiconductors

Main article: 2020–2023 global chip shortage

Increased demand for electronics coincided with semiconductor production disruptions, including a drought in Taiwan (impacting companies such as TSMC). ^{[156] [157]} US sanctions on Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC)—China's largest semiconductor manufacturer—were part of an ongoing trade war. ^[158] which increased orders for competitors. ^{[159] [160]}

These shortages reduced production in the automobile and consumer electronics industries. The shortage was amplified by forecasting errors in the automotive industry, which expected that "work-from home" would reduce sales. They reduced their orders, leading semiconductor makers to reduce investment. When automotive demand quickly recovered, the industry was unable to respond. By October 2021, multiple automakers had announced plans to cut or halt production. ^{[161] [162] [163]}

The chip shortage and a major increase in cryptocurrency mining led to a shortage in high-end graphics cards for computers. ^{[164] [165]} Microsoft and Sony Interactive Entertainment warned of shortages of their Xbox Series and PlayStation 5 video game consoles due to high demand and supply chain disruption. ^{[166] [167]}

Consumer goods

See also: 2021–2023 global supply chain crisis

Near empty shelves at a Consum supermarket, with ample produce shown in background. 14 March 2020.

Some daily goods shortages came as a result of supply chain disruptions and demand spikes, ^{[168] [169]} leading to empty shelves. Affected products included toilet paper, hand sanitiser, cleaning supplies, canned food, ^{[170] [171]} freezers ^[172] and other household appliances, ^[173] sewing machines, ^[174] blood, ^[175] flour and baking yeast, ^{[176] [177]} game consoles, ^{[178] [179]} computers, ^[180] poultry, ^[181] and swimming pool chlorine. ^[182]

Some shortages were caused by changes in consumer behavior that did not include hoarding. Many newly-homebound workers began baking bread, and there were resulting shortages in flour and yeast as well as other baking supplies. ^{[183] [184]} Bicycle shortages emerge as public transport was impacted. ^[185] The problem was exacerbated by manufacturing declines. ^[186]

Many shortages were attributed to lean manufacturing, in which many manufactures relied on just-in-time deliveries instead of maintaining larger inventories. ^[187]

In spring 2020, some factories that manufacture condoms were forced to shut down or reduce operations, including the world's largest producer. ^[188]

Paper products

The pandemic initially led to shortages of toilet paper in various countries. The shortage extended to paper towels, tissues, and diapers. ^[171] Initially this was blamed on panic buying, despite reassurance from industry and government that neither was likely to occur. ^[171] Some consumers began hoarding toilet paper, leading to reports of empty shelves, which spiraled into widespread disruption. ^{[171] [189]} Essential supply locator sites and tools attempted to assist communities in finding local sources as online retailers stocked out. ^{[190] [191]}

However, by early April 2020, other factors worsened the situation. Stay-at-home orders led people to spend less time elsewhere. Public toilets were used less and home toilets more. ^[192] Reorganizing distribution and product mix (public vs home) took time. ^[192] The Wall Street Journal declared the shortage essentially over in April 2021. ^[193]

Tampons in the US

In the US, shortages and price increases of tampons and other feminine hygiene products were caused by supply chain disruptions, staffing problems, and raw material costs. ^[194] As of mid-June 2022, approximately 7 percent of tampon products were out of stock, and many shoppers struggled to find their preferred brand. ^[195] Tampons were reported to be in short supply for more than six months. ^[196]

Aluminium cans

The shift of beverage consumption from public places to homes created an aluminium can shortage in the United States. ^[197]

Others

In France, closed borders prevented seasonal workers from entering the country. ^[198] The Minister of Agriculture called for jobless volunteers to contact strawberry farms to help collect the harvest. ^[198]

Laboratory mice were culled, and some strains were at risk of shortage due to lockdowns early in the pandemic. ^[199]

In the United States, social distancing reduced blood donations. ^[200]

See also

• List of countries by hospital beds
• Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
• 2021–2023 global supply chain crisis
• 2024 United States drug shortages

References

1. Tiefenthäler A (30 March 2020). "'Health Care Kamikazes': How Spain's Workers Are Battling Coronavirus, Unprotected". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on 31 March 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
2. Petri AE (31 March 2020). "D.I.Y. Coronavirus Solutions Are Gaining Steam". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on 31 March 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
3. Valinsky J (9 May 2020). "Supply chain interrupted: Here's everything you can't get now". cnn.com. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
4. "La France et les épidémies : 2005–2007, le temps de " l'armement "". Le Monde. 3 May 2020.
5. Stolberg SG, LaFraniere S, Shear MD, Protess B (9 May 2020). "Whistle-Blower Exposes Infighting and Animus in Trump's Coronavirus Response". The New York Times.
6. Manjoo F (25 March 2020). "Opinion | How the World's Richest Country Ran Out of a 75-Cent Face Mask". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on 25 March 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
7. Onishi N, Méheut C (17 May 2020). "How France Lost the Weapons to Fight a Pandemic". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on 11 July 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
8. "Pénurie de masques : une responsabilité partagée par les gouvernements". Public Senat (in French). 23 March 2020. Archived from the original on 9 April 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
9. BFMTV. "Pénurie de masques: pourquoi la France avait décidé de ne pas renouveler ses stocks il y a neuf ans" (in French). BFMTV. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
10. Davis AC (9 May 2020). "In the early days of the pandemic, the U.S. government turned down an offer to manufacture millions of N95 masks in America". The Washington Post.
11. "Wanted: world leaders to answer the coronavirus pandemic alarm". South China Morning Post. 31 March 2020. Archived from the original on 9 April 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
12. Harris K. "Fact check: Did Bill Gates predict the coronavirus in 2015?". USA Today.
13. Gates B (3 April 2015), The next outbreak? We're not ready, archived from the original on 5 April 2020, retrieved 6 April 2020
14. Yang C, Cai W, Li Z, Page AT, Fang Y (2018). "The current status and effects of emergency drug shortages in China: Perceptions of emergency department physicians". PLOS ONE. 13 (10): e0205238. Bibcode:2018PLoSO..1305238Y. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0205238 . PMC   6177176 . PMID   30300412.
15. Bowden E (5 April 2020). "Trump administration weighs legal action over alleged Chinese hoarding of PPE". New York Post. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
16. Millar Kate McClymont, Royce (2 April 2020). "Billions of face masks sent to China during bushfire crisis". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 3 April 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
17. "United Front groups in Canada helped Beijing stockpile coronavirus safety supplies – National | Globalnews.ca". Archived from the original on 30 April 2020. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
18. Whittington D, Wu X (30 March 2020). "Why coronavirus lockdowns will not be easy for developing countries, and what they can learn". South China Morning Post . Archived from the original on 30 March 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
19. Barnes JE (2 April 2020). "C.I.A. Hunts for Authentic Virus Totals in China, Dismissing Government Tallies". The New York Times.
20. Katrin Bennhold (6 April 2020). "A German Exception? Why the Country's Coronavirus Death Rate Is Low". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
21. Whoriskey P, Satija N (16 March 2020). "How U.S. coronavirus testing stalled: Flawed tests, red tape and resistance to using the millions of tests produced by the WHO". The Washington Post . Retrieved 18 March 2020.
22. Willman D (20 June 2020). "CDC coronavirus test kits were likely contaminated, federal review confirms". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on 22 August 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
23. Smith M (22 March 2020). "Chaos, Inconsistency Mark Launch of Drive-Thru Virus Testing". Associated Press . Retrieved 30 March 2020.
24. "Ireland says reagent shortage to slow COVID-19 tests rollout for 7–10 days". Reuters. 1 April 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
25. "Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic: increased transmission in the EU/EEA and the UK –seventh update" (PDF). European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. 25 March 2020. pp. 15–16. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 March 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020. the current shortages of laboratory consumables and reagents affect diagnostic capacity and hamper the epidemic response at the national and local levels. The laboratories have experienced delayed or missing deliveries of swabbing material, plastic consumables, RNA extraction, and RT-PCR reagents, and PPE. This is affecting laboratories in all EU/EEA countries.
26. "Coronavirus: Boris Johnson vows more virus tests as UK deaths exceed 2,000". BBC News . 1 April 2020. Archived from the original on 3 April 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
27. Preston R (31 March 2020). "Robert Peston: Is Michael Gove right that there is a shortage of coronavirus test kit ingredients?". ITV News . Archived from the original on 1 April 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
28. Mufson S, Timberg C, Tiku N. "When these Boston doctors ran out of virus-testing swabs, they mobilized an army of 3-D printers". The Washington Post.
29. Baird RP (24 March 2020). "Why Widespread Coronavirus Testing Isn't Coming Anytime Soon". The New Yorker . Archived from the original on 28 March 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020. South Dakota, said that her state's public-health laboratory—the only lab doing COVID-19 testing in the state—had so much trouble securing reagents that it was forced to temporarily stop testing altogether. also noted critical shortages of extraction kits, reagents, and test kits
30. Ossola A (25 March 2020). "Here are the coronavirus testing materials that are in short supply in the U.S." Quartz. Archived from the original on 26 March 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020. extract the virus's genetic material—in this case, RNA—using a set of chemicals that usually come in pre-assembled kits. "The big shortage is extraction kits" There are no easy replacements here: "These reagents that are used in extraction are fairly complex chemicals. They have to be very pure, and they have to be in pure solution"
31. PFEIFFER S, ANDERSON M, VAN WOERKOM B (12 May 2020). "Despite Early Warnings, U.S. Took Months To Expand Swab Production For COVID-19 Test". NPR.org. NPR.
32. "Swab Manufacturer Works To Meet 'Overwhelming' Demand". NPR.org. NPR. Archived from the original on 2 April 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
33. "UK Has Fixed Swab Shortage Problem for Coronavirus Testing, Minister Says". U.S. News & World Report. 2 April 2020.
34. Alworth M (2 July 2020). "Tampa Bay hospitals print own COVID-19 testing kits". wtsp.com.
35. Wantuck SG. "USF Touting Teamwork To Create 3D Swabs For COVID-19 Testing". wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu.
36. "DESIGN | MAKE | PROTECT". Open Source Medical Supplies. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
37. Stein S (27 July 2021). "One Year Later, America's Mask Supply Chain Is Still Vulnerable". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
38. "Hospitals left without masks as vital medical supplies shipped to China | 60 Minutes Australia" . Retrieved 6 April 2020– via YouTube.
39. "United Front groups in Canada helped Beijing stockpile coronavirus safety supplies – National | Globalnews.ca". Archived from the original on 30 April 2020. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
40. McClymont, Kate (27 March 2020). "Second developer flew 82 tonnes of medical supplies to China". The Sydney Morning Herald . Archived from the original on 27 March 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
41. McClymont, Kate (26 March 2020). "Chinese-backed company's mission to source Australian medical supplies". The Sydney Morning Herald . Archived from the original on 25 March 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
42. Lushington (28 March 2020). "China Pillages Australia's Much-Needed Medical Supplies". The BFD. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
43. "Rational use of personal protective equipment for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)" (PDF). World Health Organization. 27 February 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 March 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
44. "Countries reject Chinese-made equipment". BBC. 30 March 2020. Archived from the original on 22 May 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
45. Choi D (2 April 2020). "Chinese government rejects allegations that its face masks were defective, tells countries to 'double check' instructions". Business Insider France. Archived from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
46. "EU suspends delivery of 10 million masks over quality issues". Archived from the original on 21 May 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
47. "Shortage in supply can halt hand sanitizer production nationwide". West Virginia: WDTV. 5 April 2020. Archived from the original on 7 April 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
48. "NYC Businesses Making Sanitizer Challenged by Shortage in Shipping Supplies". New York: NY1. 4 April 2020. Archived from the original on 7 April 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
49. Doyne S, Gonchar M (16 March 2020). "Is It Immoral to Increase the Price of Goods During a Crisis?". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on 26 March 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
50. "European brewers and distillers switch production from booze to hand sanitizer". CNN.
51. Shikes J (27 April 2020). "Beer Makers Provide Crucial Step in Hand Sanitizer Production". Westword.
52. "Australian brewers swap cleansing ale for sanitizer in coronavirus fight". Reuters. 30 March 2020.
53. Bowden E, Campanile C, Golding B (25 March 2020). "Worker at NYC hospital where nurses wear trash bags as protection dies from coronavirus". New York Post. Archived from the original on 26 March 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
54. "COVID-19 survival kits, Charlotte Moss collages for charity, and more". Businessofhome.com. 8 April 2020. Archived from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
55. Palmer A (2 April 2020). "Amazon blocks sale of N95 masks to the public, begins offering supplies to hospitals". CNBC.
56. Campbell D (31 March 2020). "NHS staff 'gagged' over coronavirus shortages". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
57. "Jenrick: 84 tonnes of PPE to arrive from Turkey". BBC News. 18 April 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
58. Campbell D (19 April 2020). "Hospital leaders hit out at government as PPE shortage row escalates". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
59. Sabbagh D (23 April 2020). "'Less than 10th' of PPE order arrives in UK, despite downpayment". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
60. Rawlinson K (7 May 2020). "Coronavirus PPE: all 400,000 gowns flown from Turkey for NHS fail UK standards". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
61. Zaugg J (12 September 2020). "The world's top suppliers of disposable gloves are thriving because of the pandemic. Their workers aren't". CNN. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
62. McLean S, Davey-Attlee F, Olarn K, Lister T (24 October 2021). "Tens of millions of filthy, used medical gloves imported into the US". CNN. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
63. 谢斌 张纯 (21 January 2020). "一罩难求：南都民调实测走访发现，线上线下口罩基本卖脱销". 南方都市报. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
64. 刘灏 (21 January 2020). "广东市场监管部门：将坚决打击囤积居奇、哄抬价格等行为". 南方网. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
65. "市场价格行为提醒书". n.d. Archived from the original on 27 January 2020.
66. 陈泽云 (22 January 2020). "口罩买不到怎么办？这些药店平台春节期间持续供应". 金羊网. Archived from the original on 22 January 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
67. 新京报 (22 January 2020). "京东：禁止第三方商家口罩涨价". 新京报网. Archived from the original on 27 January 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
68. 新京报 (22 January 2020). "苏宁易购：口罩等健康类商品禁涨价，并开展百亿补贴". 新京报网. Archived from the original on 22 January 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
69. 新京报 (22 January 2020). "拼多多：对口罩等产品进行监测，恶意涨价者将下架". 新京报网. Archived from the original on 22 January 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
70. Miroff N. "Protective gear in national stockpile is nearly depleted, DHS officials say". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 1 April 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
71. "National Nurses United is Stepping Up Pressure On Hospital Employers Across the United States to Provide Safer Facilities". National Nurses United. 27 March 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
72. "France to produce 40 million face masks by end of April for domestic battle against Covid-19". Radio France Internationale. 31 March 2020. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
73. Francesco Guarascio, Philip Blenkinsop (6 March 2020). "EU fails to persuade France, Germany to lift coronavirus health gear controls". Reuters. Archived from the original on 11 April 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
74. Rachel Zhou Y (18 March 2020). "The Global Effort to Tackle the Coronavirus Face Mask Shortage". U.S. News & World Report. Archived from the original on 11 April 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
75. Dahinten J, Wabl M (9 March 2020). "Germany Faces Backlash From Neighbors Over Mask Export Ban". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 9 April 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
76. "Coronavirus: Germany blocks truck full of protective masks headed for Switzerland". The Local. 9 March 2020. Archived from the original on 9 April 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
77. Solar M (13 March 2020). "A truck heading with protective equipment from Germany was confiscated at the border". Nas Region. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
78. Onukwugha A (6 April 2020). "Coronavirus: US, Germany, France In War Of Masks". Leadership. Archived from the original on 9 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
79. "Spain thanks Turkey for authorizing ventilators". aa.com.tr. Archived from the original on 9 April 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
80. "Solidarity? When it comes to masks, it's every nation for itself". France 24. 4 April 2020. Archived from the original on 11 April 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
81. Zubkova D (16 March 2020). "Ukraine Was Ready To Sell Slovakia 2 Million Medical Face Masks, But Order Was Cut Off – Prime Minister Of Slovakia Pellegrini". Ukrainian News.
82. "Scramble for Virus Supplies Strains Global Solidarity". The New York Times. 4 April 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
83. "800 thousand masks ordered by Gordona blocked in Germany". La Provincia Di Sondrio. 12 March 2020. Archived from the original on 21 May 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
84. Paudice C (14 March 2020). "Lombardia al punto di non-ritorno". HuffPost.
85. Barbara Zimic, Barbara Eržen (19 March 2020). "Matej Tonin: It was a mask fraud, the state has not paid anything yet". DEVI Domov.
86. Winterburn T (21 March 2020). "FRENCH POLICE IN BID TO CONFISCATE 130,000 FACE MASKS BOUND FOR UK NHS DOCTORS AND NURSES BATTLING THE CORONAVIRUS". Euro Weekly News. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
87. Eilperin J, Stein J, Butler D, Hamburger T (18 April 2020). "U.S. sent millions of face masks to China early this year, ignoring pandemic warning signs". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
88. Ferek KS, Zumbrun J (12 April 2020). "U.S. Tariffs Hamper Imports of Sanitizer, Disinfectants, Some Companies Say". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
89. Price A, Chu L (22 March 2020). "Addressing COVID-19 Face Mask Shortages [v1.1] : Can Facial Masks be Disinfected for Re-use?". stanfordmedicine.app.box.com. Stanford University Anesthesia Informatics and Media Lab, COVID-19 Evidence Service Report. p. 5. Archived from the original on 23 March 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
90. Institution login (26 March 2020). "Absence of contamination of personal protective equipment (PPE) by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) | Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology | Cambridge Core". Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology. 41 (5). Cambridge.org: 614–616. doi: 10.1017/ice.2020.91 . PMC   7156567 . PMID   32213231.
91. Sindya B (1 April 2020). "Which DIY mask pattern should you use? Even experts can't pick one to recommend". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on 1 April 2020.
92. Opoczynski D (23 March 2020). "Coronavirus : quand les inventeurs viennent à la rescousse des hôpitaux". Le Parisien (in French). Archived from the original on 24 March 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
93. Cavalcanti G, Cocciole C, Cole C, Forgues A, Jaqua V, Jones-Davis D, Merlo S (2021). Design, Make, Protect: A report on the Open Source Maker and Manufacturer Response to the COVID-19 PPE Crisis (PDF). Open Source Medical Supplies & Nation of Makers. pp. 18–22. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
94. "Face-Masks Disinfection Device – needlab". Hackster.io. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
95. "DESIGN | MAKE | PROTECT" (PDF). Open Source Medical Supplies. 22 February 2021.
96. Srivastava R (16 March 2020). "Now more than ever, we have to be honest about intensive care beds". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077. Archived from the original on 23 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
97. Kliff S, Satariano A, Silver-Greenberg J, Kulish N (18 March 2020). "There Aren't Enough Ventilators to Cope With the Coronavirus". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on 18 March 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
98. Daugherty Biddison EL, Faden R, Gwon HS, Mareiniss DP, Regenberg AC, Schoch-Spana M, Schwartz J, Toner ES (1 April 2019). "Too Many Patients…A Framework to Guide Statewide Allocation of Scarce Mechanical Ventilation During Disasters". Chest. 155 (4): 848–854. doi:10.1016/j.chest.2018.09.025. ISSN   0012-3692. PMID   30316913. S2CID   52978628.
99. Ronco C, Navalesi P, Vincent JL (1 March 2020). "Coronavirus epidemic: preparing for extracorporeal organ support in intensive care". The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. 8 (3): 240–241. doi: 10.1016/S2213-2600(20)30060-6 . ISSN   2213-2600. PMC   7154507 . PMID   32035509.
100. "Video: Emergency mask for hospital ventilators". YouTube . n.d. Archived from the original on 25 March 2020.
101. Isinnova (n.d.). "Easy – Covid19 : Emergency mask for hospital ventilators". Isinnova (in Italian). Archived from the original on 24 March 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
102. "Pourquoi ne pas distribuer des masques de plongée Décathlon? BFMTV répond à vos questions" (in French). n.d. Retrieved 1 April 2020– via YouTube.
103. "Le masque de plongée, second souffle des hôpitaux". Le Monde. 11 April 2020.
104. "National Case Study: Romania's Maker Response Against COVID-19". Open Source Medical Supplies. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
105. Stieb M (16 March 2020). "U.K. Only Grasped in the 'Last Few Days' It Had the Exact Wrong Coronavirus Plan". Intelligencer. Archived from the original on 17 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
106. Imperial College COVID-19 Response Team (16 March 2020). "Impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to reduce COVID19 mortality and healthcare demand" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
107. Batchelor G (15 March 2020). "Hospitals could need 7.5 times the number of critical care beds to treat virus patients". The Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235. Archived from the original on 23 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
108. "Coronavirus : dans le Grand Est, "pratiquement tous les lits de réanimation sont occupés"". Europe 1. 15 March 2020. Archived from the original on 17 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
109. "Covid-19 : l'AP-HP s'attend à faire face à une vague d'hospitalisation bien plus haute que prévu". Le Monde (in French). 17 March 2020. Archived from the original on 23 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
110. See Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris.
111. "Les transferts de malades du coronavirus se poursuivent pour désengorger les régions saturées" – via bfmtv.com.
112. Toussaint K (16 March 2020). "These Good Samaritans with a 3D printer are saving lives by making new respirator valves for free". Fast Company. Archived from the original on 26 March 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
113. Krishnamoorthy V, Vavilala MS, Mock CN (2014). "The need for ventilators in the developing world: An opportunity to improve care and save lives". Journal of Global Health. 4 (1): 010303. doi:10.7189/jogh.04.010303. ISSN   2047-2978. PMC   4073242 . PMID   24976958.
114. Rosenbaum L (18 March 2020). "Facing Covid-19 in Italy – Ethics, Logistics, and Therapeutics on the Epidemic's Front Line". New England Journal of Medicine. 382 (20): 1873–1875. doi: 10.1056/NEJMp2005492 . PMID   32187459.
115. Kulish N, Kliff S, Silver-Greenberg J (29 March 2020). "The U.S. Tried to Build a New Fleet of Ventilators. The Mission Failed". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on 29 March 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
116. "Andrew Cuomo @NYGovCuomo". Periscope. Archived from the original on 27 March 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
117. "New York Gov. Cuomo holds briefing on the coronavirus pandemic". CNBC. 25 March 2020. Archived from the original on 31 March 2020.
118. "Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Amid Ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, Governor Cuomo Announces 40,000 Health Professionals Have Signed Up to Volunteer as Part of The State's Surge Healthcare Force". Governor Andrew M. Cuomo. 25 March 2020. Archived from the original on 27 March 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
119. Evelyn K (27 March 2020). "Trump on urgent requests for ventilators: 'I don't believe you need 30,000'". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077. Archived from the original on 28 March 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
120. Sanger DE, Haberman M, Karni A (27 March 2020). "Under Intense Criticism, Trump Says Government Will Buy More Ventilators". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on 28 March 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
121. "Coronavirus : la demande en ventilateurs et respirateurs artificiels est devenue "colossale", explique un spécialiste dans le matériel médical". Franceinfo (in French). 17 March 2020. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
122. "China's factories work 24/7 to build ventilators for Milan, New York". South China Morning Post. 24 March 2020. Archived from the original on 25 March 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
123. "Medtronic is sharing its portable ventilator design specifications and code for free to all". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 1 April 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
124. "Open Source Ventilator / OpenLung BVM Ventilator". GitLab. Archived from the original on 27 March 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
125. Day M (11 May 2020). "Covid-19: Concern about social care's ability to cope with pandemics was raised two years ago". BMJ. 369: m1879. doi: 10.1136/bmj.m1879 . ISSN   1756-1833. PMID   32393505. S2CID   218599889.
126. Davies R (26 March 2020). "How the UK plans to source 30,000 ventilators for the NHS". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
127. Davies R (4 May 2020). "The inside story of the UK's NHS coronavirus ventilator challenge". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
128. Beitler JR, Mittel AM, Kallet R, Kacmarek R, Hess D, Branson R, Olson M, Garcia I, Powell B, Wang DS, Hastie J (15 August 2020). "Ventilator Sharing during an Acute Shortage Caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic". American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. 202 (4): 600–604. doi:10.1164/rccm.202005-1586LE. ISSN   1073-449X. PMC   7427377 . PMID   32515988.
129. LaChance J, Schottdorf M, Zajdel TJ, Saunders JL, Dvali S, Marshall C, Seirup L, Sammour I, Chatburn RL, Notterman DA, Cohen DJ (2022). "PVP1-The People's Ventilator Project: A fully open, low-cost, pressure-controlled ventilator research platform compatible with adult and pediatric uses". PLOS ONE. 17 (5): e0266810. Bibcode:2022PLoSO..1766810L. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0266810 . PMC   9094548 . PMID   35544461.
130. "MIT-based team works on rapid deployment of open-source, low-cost ventilator". MIT News. 26 March 2020. Archived from the original on 28 March 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
131. "PROJECT LIBRARY". Open Source Medical Supplies. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
132. Foggatt T. "The MacGyvers Taking on the Ventilator Shortage". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 27 March 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
133. Herrmann J, Cruz AF, Hawley ML, Branson RD, Kaczka DW (1 July 2020). "Shared Ventilation in the Era of COVID-19: A Theoretical Consideration of the Dangers and Potential Solutions". Respiratory Care. 65 (7): 932–945. doi: 10.4187/respcare.07919 . ISSN   0020-1324. PMID   32376612. S2CID   218535271.
134. "Wuhan closes makeshift hospital as new COVID-19 cases in China drop sharply". CNA. 2 March 2020. Archived from the original on 4 March 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
135. "China closes makeshift hospitals as COVID-19 cases plunge". CNA. Archived from the original on 27 March 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
136. "Aide de l'armée : la France dans les bras de "Morphée"" [Aid from the Army: France in the arms of "Morpheus"]. Libération (in French). 17 March 2020. Archived from the original on 24 March 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
137. Sébastien B (23 March 2020). "Coronavirus : voici à quoi ressemble l'hôpital militaire installé à Mulhouse" [Coronavirus: this is what the military hospital in Mulhouse looks like]. Le Monde (in French). Archived from the original on 23 March 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
138. Marcolini B, Stein R (23 March 2020). "'Brace Yourself': How Doctors in Italy Responded to Coronavirus". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on 26 March 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
139. Illman J. "NHS block books almost all private hospital sector capacity to fight covid-19". Health Service Journal. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
140. "Take a look inside NHS Nightingale, London's new coronavirus hospital". World Economic Forum. 31 March 2020. Archived from the original on 3 April 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
141. Feuer A, Stack L (6 April 2020). "New York City Considers Temporary Graves for Virus Victims". The New York Times.
142. Nielsen C (2020). "Speaking Up for the Medical Laboratory". Canadian Journal of Medical Laboratory Science. 82: 4.
143. Haddad LM, Annamaraju P, Toney-Butler TJ (2021), "Nursing Shortage", StatPearls, Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing, PMID   29630227 , retrieved 23 September 2021
144. "Caring for our caregivers during COVID-19". American Medical Association. 24 April 2023.
145. Arcadi P, Simonetti V, Ambrosca R, Cicolini G, Simeone S, Pucciarelli G, Alvaro R, Vellone E, Durante A (31 January 2021). "Nursing during the COVID-19 outbreak: A phenomenological study". Journal of Nursing Management. 29 (5): 1111–1119. doi:10.1111/jonm.13249. ISSN   0966-0429. PMC   8014333 . PMID   33421209.
146. Modenese A, Loney T, Gobba F (24 June 2022). "COVID-19-Related Mortality amongst Physicians in Italy: Trend Pre- and Post-SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination Campaign". Healthcare. 10 (7): 1187. doi: 10.3390/healthcare10071187 . ISSN   2227-9032. PMC   9316407 . PMID   35885714.
147. "COVID-19 Lung Damage". www.hopkinsmedicine.org. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
148. Jennifer Senior (n.d.). "Opinion | Doctors Must Ration Ventilators as Coronavirus Rages. The Decisions Are Painful". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 30 March 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
149. "More than 62,000 doctors, nurses and other health care workers have had COVID-19". NBC News. 26 May 2020. Archived from the original on 28 May 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
150. Kitroeff N, Villegas P (28 May 2020). "'It's Not The Virus': Mexico's Broken Hospitals Become Killers, Too". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on 28 May 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
151. Puente V (7 December 2020). "Propane shortage: An unexpected side effect of the pandemic and restaurant mandates". WKYT. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
152. Lott J (14 January 2021). "Southwest Louisiana is experiencing a propane supply shortage". KPLC. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
153. Peguero J (6 December 2020). "Pandemic is creating an increase in demand for propane, as some homeowners struggle to get some". WBAY. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
154. Egan M (5 May 2021). "New homes cost $36,000 more because of an epic shortage of lumber". CNN Business . Retrieved 9 May 2021.
155. Egan M (6 May 2021). "Steel prices have tripled. Now Bank of America is sounding the alarm". CNN Business . Retrieved 9 May 2021.
156. "Drought hits Taiwan chip supply as Biden asks for more". BBC News. 25 February 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
157. "Why the world should pay attention to Taiwan's drought". BBC News. 20 April 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
158. Alper A, Shepardson D, Pamuk H (18 December 2020). "U.S. blacklists dozens of Chinese firms including SMIC". Reuters . Archived from the original on 18 December 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
159. Massie G (11 February 2021). "Major chip shortage caused by Trump trade war blamed for PS5 shortage". The Independent. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
160. "Taiwan is facing a drought, and it has prioritized its computer chip business over farmers". The New York Times. 8 April 2021. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 17 October 2021.
161. Isidore C (1 October 2021). "Car sales plunge as chip shortages choke off supply". CNN Business. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
162. Bicer A (31 March 2021). "Automakers' chip crisis spreading to other sectors". Anadolu Agency. Washington. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
163. Chris Isidore (October 2020). "Car sales are rebounding, but they're still not back to pre-pandemic levels". CNN. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
164. "Crypto-miners are probably to blame for the graphics-chip shortage". The Economist. 19 June 2021. ISSN   0013-0613 . Retrieved 17 October 2021.
165. "What To Do About The GPU Shortage? Suggested Solutions". WePC | Let's build your dream gaming PC. 30 November 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
166. Takashi M (10 May 2021). "Sony Warns Tight PlayStation 5 Supply to Extend Into Next Year". Bloomberg. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
167. Cryer H (2 February 2021). "Xbox Series X and Series S shortages are expected until at least June 2021". GamesRadar. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
168. "Can't find what you want in the grocery store? Here's why". CNN. 2 April 2020. Archived from the original on 7 April 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
169. "Empty Grocery Shelves Are Alarming, But They're Not Permanent". NPR. 18 March 2020. Archived from the original on 7 April 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
170. "Grocery Stores Start To Cut Hours As Coronavirus Prompts Surge in Panic-Buying". NPR. 14 March 2020. Archived from the original on 8 April 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
171. Lee BY (6 March 2020). "Is COVID-19 Coronavirus Leading To Toilet Paper Shortages? Here Is The Situation". Forbes . Retrieved 13 April 2020.
172. "Consumer watch: Food hoarders lead to freezer shortage in America". KOAA. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
173. Hartmans A (12 April 2021). "Wealthy homeowners are dropping nearly $40,000 on luxury stoves that won't arrive for months. It's a symptom of a broader appliance shortage hampering homeowners and industry insiders alike". Business Insider . Retrieved 13 May 2021.
174. Kavilanz P (13 August 2020). "Sudden sewing boom has sewing machine sellers scrambling". CNN Business . Retrieved 13 May 2021.
175. "Social Distancing Leads To Blood Shortage". NPR. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
176. Purdy C (25 March 2020). "Food companies are working to get yeast back on store shelves". Quartz. Archived from the original on 4 April 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
177. Pasanen M. "How the Pandemic Propelled King Arthur Flour Into the National Spotlight". Seven Days. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
178. Cook J (30 March 2020). "From PlayStations to laptops, the consumer gadgets facing shortages" . The Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
179. Shannon Liao. "Nintendo pauses Nintendo Switch shipments to Japan amid global shortage". CNN. Archived from the original on 13 April 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
180. "COVID-19 crisis creates shortage of some electronics". wnep.com. 6 April 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
181. Tyko K (6 May 2021). "Is there a chicken shortage? How COVID, chicken sandwich war and chicken wing demand are impacting restaurants". USA Today . Retrieved 9 May 2021.
182. Garcia-Navarro L (9 May 2021). "A Chlorine Shortage Could Spoil Pool Season This Summer". NPR . Retrieved 13 May 2021.
183. Collings R (21 April 2020). "King Arthur's Flour Sales Rise More Than 2,000% in March". AdWeek .
184. Pasanen M. "How the Pandemic Propelled King Arthur Flour Into the National Spotlight". Seven Days. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
185. Shrubsall J (26 December 2020). "The great bike drought of 2020". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
186. Seselja E (24 September 2020). "On your bike — if you can find one: Nationwide bicycle shortage prompts Christmas warning". www.abc.net.au. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
187. Goodman PS, Chokshi N (1 June 2021). "How the World Ran Out of Everything". The New York Times . Retrieved 2 June 2021.
188. "Global condom shortage looms as coronavirus shuts down production". The Guardian . 27 March 2020. Archived from the original on 8 April 2020.
189. Porterfield C (6 March 2020). "Here's Why The Toilet Paper Shortage Is Only Temporary". Forbes . Retrieved 13 April 2020.
190. "Google Trends Toilet Paper 2020 Search Term". 26 May 2020. Archived from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
191. "Toilet Paper Locator". Killcoronavirus.org. 26 May 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
192. Nguyen T (3 April 2020). "The toilet paper shortage is more complicated than you think". Vox . Retrieved 13 April 2020.
193. Terlep S (13 April 2021). "Americans Have Too Much Toilet Paper. Finally, Sales Slow". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved 14 April 2021.
194. Somasundaram P (16 June 2022). "What you need to know about the tampon shortage". The Washington Post . Retrieved 16 June 2022.
195. Terlep S, Prang A (16 June 2022). "Tampon Makers Bolster Production to Avert Major Shortages". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved 16 June 2022.
196. Semuels A (7 June 2022). "The Great Tampon Shortage of 2022: The Supply Chain Problem No One's Talking About". Time . Retrieved 21 June 2022.
197. Bomey N (15 July 2020). "Another shortage! Beer, soda makers struggle with aluminum can supply, plan to limit niche drinks". USA Today . Retrieved 5 February 2021.
198. BFMTV. "Coronavirus: la cueillette des fraises menacée par le manque de main d'oeuvre et de débouchés" (in French). BFMTV. Archived from the original on 26 March 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
199. Grimm D (23 March 2020). "'It's heartbreaking.' Labs are euthanizing thousands of mice in response to coronavirus pandemic". Science | AAAS. Archived from the original on 28 March 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
200. Brady J (17 March 2020). "Social Distancing Leads To Blood Shortage". NPR.