The chaotic lifting of China’s previously stringent Covid controls before Christmas saw the virus spread rapidly through the population. Airfinity, a UK health data company, estimated that 62m people could be infected in the final two weeks of January, with Covid-related deaths likely to peak by the end of this week at 36,000 per day.
“To put it in layman’s terms, there will be period when less stuff is being made, which in turn will take longer to reach ports, and eventually Europe and US. The likelihood of lumpy supply and shortages is considerable. While the intricate nature of globalised supply chains makes it difficult to predict specific shortages, industry experts said several sectors were already showing reduced production.