Courtside wrote:NoDopeOnSundays wrote:Hopefully there's more emphasis to bring back manufacturing jobs after this so we don't have to guilt sovereign nations into helping.
If the masks were produced here we'd be way ahead right now.
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I understand the fear that is causing the NYT to say this, but it's completely and totally unfair. Would NY state be sending masks to Spain, knowing what they know about the virus?
Yes, China has massively ramped up capacity and is building a stockpile for their own use first while helping and encouraging their industry to grow and help meet the rising global demand. In a situation like this, you must help yourself first before others. It's like the instructions you get on a plane regarding the oxygen masks, to put yours on first and then help others, because if you fail to first protect yourself, then both you AND the person you want to help can die. If you put your mask on first, you are then able to help another, who can help another, etc...
In the case of China and the masks, since they produce probably 80 or 90% of the world's masks, what do you think would happen if they didn't first protect themselves, and then lose the ability to keep producing masks for their own needs, let alone others? It means they first succumb and then by default everyone else that depends on them does too.
If the CDC thinks that the US would need anywhere from 1.5 to 7.5 BILLION masks in the case of a pandemic (as per their own 2015 report), then China would need 4-5X that to ensure they are protected. They are both building towards these numbers themselves while increasing capacity to help others.
You can't pour from an empty cup.
If China fails to keep its own cup full, then they cannot pour anything out to others. Based on the global manufacturing and supply chains that exist, this is the bare truth of the situation. Yes, the rest of the world will need to create their own manufacturing capacity for these products, but it will be years before that has reached adequate levels, so in the mean time we have to rely heavily on China. We have to hope they can keep themselves protected and that as they try to open things up, there are no more outbreaks that would put the entire global supply of masks in jeopardy.