Shortage of PPE adds to risks for reopening
Lack of supply could lead to U.S. virus resurgence
First came the dash to equip U.S. hospitals with protective gear when the coronavirus swept across the country. Now companies are scrambling to get a limited supply of masks, gloves and disinfectants they need to reopen.
For businesses already struggling from the pandemic, that means further constraints on time and costs. The shortages also present a conundrum as America’s economy restarts: If companies can’t get enough supplies, more people are at risk for the virus, adding to the prospect of another surge in cases that would leave the market even more short of protective equipment.
“It’s been challenging,” said Peter Elitzer, president of Peter Harris Clothes, a discount retailer that has reopened almost all of its 79 stores. “How do you find the masks? How do you find the sanitizer? How do you find the wipes? Forget it. To get the Clorox wipes is completely impossible.”
Elitzer shelled out $60 (U.S.) a gallon for hand sanitizer before tracking down a distiller that could produce it for $35 — still triple the usual price. Plastic barriers, masks and thermometers are selling at premiums, he said. The company had to furlough workers just to cover the $50,000 in added expenses.
Inventories will remain tight and short-term price spikes are expected for high-demand items as businesses crank back up just as doctors begin performing elective surgeries again, said D.G. Macpherson, chief executive officer of W.W. Grainger Inc., the largest U.S. distributor of industrial supplies. Hospitals also are rebuilding stockpiles ahead of a potential second wave of the virus later this year.
“Things are still challenged now in a number of categories,” Macpherson said in an interview. “It’s getting better, I would say. But there’s a long way to go.”
Disposable gloves and hospital gowns are among the items with the biggest kinks in the supply chain, he said.
The tight market for those products could become critical if COVID-19 resurges. As it is, cases are accelerating in some states, with Texas and Florida reporting record numbers of new infections. This has led to concerns that reopenings may come at the cost of spreading the virus.
“I don’t think the supply chain is ready yet for a second wave of massive demand for PPE,” Lange said. “It’s probably going to take about nine months to get to a really good spot.”
Other entrepreneurs are also proving resourceful in finding their own solutions. Steve Trollope, who co-owns a prenatalimaging centre in Reno, Nevada, resorted to making his own hand sanitizer.
“Early on, it was a real scramble. We were at the point of getting desperate to locate certain items,” said Trollope, who now can buy sanitizer again. “The supply chain seems to be mending itself.”
Grainger expects demand for plastic barriers, masks, disinfectants and other supplies related to COVID-19 to be elevated for the long term. Companies are adopting practices that won’t fade even if the virus eventually does, said Macpherson, the CEO.
“For the next few years, we’re going to be in a world where these types of products are going to be the norm for how we work,” he said. “Frankly, when we go into the grocery store, you ask yourself, ‘Why didn’t we always have this? Why did we let people sneeze on each other in the first place?’”