© Chloe Settle
Logistics in the age of Covid By Rine Mansouri In the early months of 2020, it was extremely common to see headlines such as “Coronavirus wreaks havoc on supply chains“ in the news, explaining how the novel Covid-19 pandemic could be affecting the thing that was most dear to you. For most of us living in the west, during the early months of 2020, the pandemic’s effect could be felt mostly through the impact it was having on imported goods from China and the surrounding region rather than being of any medical or epidemiological concern. The virus seemed so far away, almost as something otherworldly. Shipments of clothes ordered from Zara that once took 2 weeks now suddenly seemed forever 24
lost in transit, away somewhere stuck at sea or in a shipping container docked at Guangzhou. As the epidemic spread out to become a pandemic, people in the west soon realised that having their shipment of clothes delayed was the least of their problems and that, even basic commodities taken for granted could potentially be in danger of running out. Take for instance the situation with pharmaceutical drugs last spring where headlines in Sweden appeared warning about dangerously low supplies of Alvedon. News like this helped create a sense of panic and led to hoarding of basic medical supplies, in turn exacerbating the issue. How is the lack of Alvedon connected to Covid-19? The substance in Alvedon is called Paracetamol, and the bulk of it worldwide is produced in China and India. Sweden receives most of its supply of paracetamol from the latter country. In the beginning of March, India decided to ban exports of medicines because they could not get the raw materials necessary to produce the drugs from China. Hundreds of the factories that
