COVID-19 Impact on Medical Face Shield in Healthcare Industry

In Wuhan, China, the first case of the COVID-19 pandemic was discovered. The pandemic has had a global effect with huge ramifications for economies and industries all over the world. COVID-19 spread in unparalleled ways across the world due to its highly infectious and contagious nature and the absence of vaccine. As a result, doctors around the world are still struggling with the biggest medical problem of the twenty-first century. Though the virus roots can be traced back to Asia, the pandemic has devastated several European countries as well as the United States. The virus has spread around the world from North America to Europe to Asia, the Middle East and Africa to South America. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared COVID-19 as a pandemic due to its rapid spread across the world. Following the pandemic's announcement, many nations including the United States, Germany, India and China had declared full lockdowns in order to stem the spread of the disease. COVID-19's infectious existence has increased the demand for medical face shields among people in variety of professions. According to World Health Organization (WHO) study dated July 28th, 2020, 16,341,920 cases of coronavirus have been identified worldwide with 650,805 patients dying as a result of the virus. The COVID-19 outbreak is wreaking havoc on the healthcare industry especially the medical face shield sector.

IMPACT ON DEMAND
The COVID-19 pandemic has catapulted the medical face shield industry from obscurity to prominence. Surgical face masks have proven to be effective in preventing many deadly epidemics in the form of infectious diseases such as the flu, SARS and Zika virus long before the pandemic. The pandemic of COVID-19 has increased the use of medical face shields in variety of settings. Several firms in other sectors are keen to join and some have already joined the medical face shield landscape in order to raise sales by fulfilling the immediate need for protective equipment in the event of a virus outbreak.
For instance,
• In May 2020, Ripclear, a maker of specialized protective films for sports eyewear, released V2 Shield, a product intended to protect personnel fighting the COVID-19 outbreak such as nurses, police officers, emergency medical technicians and other front-line staff.
• In May 2020, Bauer, a leading hockey equipment maker has retooled its production to produce medical face shields for healthcare staff and people who are at risk due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• In April 2020, Mahindra retooled its Detroit manufacturing facility to produce medical personal security devices such as medical face masks for frontline healthcare staff and infected people.
• In March 2020, ISAAC BUDMEN INDUSTRIES LLC, a 3D printer manufacturer has diverted its 3D printing operations to the production of medical face shields in order to meet the rising demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) and other organizations such as Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) has recommended the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) which includes face shield and face masks. Since the efficacy of safety equipment improves when both face masks and face guards are worn, they have been widely embraced by people all over the world. Face masks, on the other hand, are thought to be more effective in preventing the spread of respiratory viruses as SARS-CoV-2 by preventing droplets and eye spread. Many experimental tests have shown that using a medical face shield in conjunction with a face mask has a high level of efficacy. As a result, the main market players could see a major increase in demand for medical face shields.
Medical face shields are made of variety of materials including polycarbonate, propionate and cellulose acetate among others but polycarbonate-based medical face shields are in high demand. Furthermore, as opposed to reusable face shields, the fear of contamination has boosted the market for disposable medical face shields. Since the Asia-Pacific region has been the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, the medical face shield market in this region has grown at the fastest pace.
The government of various regions has placed stringent sanctions on citizens who breach safety laws by not covering their faces which has resulted in an increase in demand for medical face shields. This has increased the demand for and use of medical face shields by employees in industries such as chemical, building, oil and gas, pharmaceutical and manufacturing to avoid fatal workplace accidents and injuries. The government of various regions has imposed harsh penalties on people who violate safety laws by not wearing face shields, resulting in a surge in demand for medical face shields. Employees in industries such as chemical, construction, oil and gas, pharmaceutical and manufacturing have increased their demand for and use of medical face shields to prevent fatal occupational accidents and injuries.
Medical face shields are expected to increase in popularity due to their numerous advantages and applications in various industries as well as their ability to provide complete face protection and properties such as reusability, ease of washing and no fear of raw material shortages.

IMPACT ON SUPPLY
The COVID-19 situation has caused supply chains to be disrupted around the board. The rapid advent of COVID-19 and its subsequent effect on trade and goods transport has resulted in the shutdown of large portions of the global economy, causing supply chains to be disrupted due to lack of supplies and workers and manufacturing to slow or stop. Several firms, on the other hand, are retooling for priority manufacturing to manufacture critical medical supplies and equipment including ventilators, face masks and medical face shields. The majority of companies have retooled are in the printing, upholstery and sewing sectors among others. These companies have already used acetate sheets in 3D printing, foam in upholstery and elastic ribbon in sewing to create medical face shields. As a result, different regions have been able to sustain their stock of emergency medical face shields.
Due to trade barriers, there is no alternative but to manufacture critical medical devices in the United States. As the demand grows during the pandemic, counterfeiting and price gouging of imported products rise with it.
The government, several businesses and research institutes are taking numerous initiatives to meet the growing demand of people all over the world.
For instance,
• In March 2020, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) mechanical engineering department has developed a new methodology for mass-producing medical face shields in order to satisfy the high demand for disposable face shields by healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

KEY INITIATIVES BY THE MARKET PLAYERS DURING COVID-19
• In June 2020, 3M will change their emphasis and manufacturing lines for the development of medical face shields to meet the ever-increasing demand of healthcare professionals in order to accommodate the demand for medical face shields in the United States.
• In April 2020, KCWW, a major maker of medicinal solutions for hygiene and more has announced a donation of USD 8.00 million to aid COVID-19 relief efforts. This donation made during a crucial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic strengthens the company's business reputation.
• In March 2020, in order to produce respirators, ventilators and face masks, Ford Motor Company partnered with 3M and GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY. This collaboration between the companies would help satisfy people's need for medical face shields during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• In March 2020, Dimensional Innovations teamed up with InStore Design Display of North Kansas City and the University of Kansas' Center for Design Research to produce medical face shields to satisfy the need for medical safety devices.

CONCLUSION
The novel COVID-19 virus is predicted to have a long-term effect across all industrial sectors. The COVID-19 epidemic caused people to be perplexed about the virus and how to treat it. The virus is not only a threat to human health but it has also caused economic hardship and extreme emotional distress. It triggered a chain reaction resulting in the introduction of a new generation of criteria and needs that were previously unmet. Health face shields are one of the requirements. Previously, surgical face masks were only used in few medical practices and businesses that used toxic chemicals among other things. However, due to the extremely infectious nature of the virus and its ease of transmission through droplets or even fomites, the demand for medical face shields has increased in the industry.
Because of the rising prevalence of these infectious diseases, a robust healthcare network and appropriate emergency medical services are needed (EMS). This has resulted in increased investment on medical care all over the world. The extremely infectious aspect of the disease has necessitated the use of personal protective equipment to prevent healthcare staff from being infected. In particular, personnel performing medical care during the lockout which is being introduced in different countries to deter the spread of COVID-19 are expected to wear surgical face masks and face shields. These trends are propelling the medical face shield market forward.
Since the medical face shield market's growth will be heavily dependent on therapeutic approaches to combat COVID-19, the strategy is likely to remain preventive even after the vaccine becomes effective. Customizable face shields can become a possibility in general, particularly when children return to school. Face shields and face masks can continue to be popular until vaccines are widely available. Nonetheless, the long-term demand picture is stable as people are more likely to take precautionary measures.
Despite the possibility of a cure or vaccine on the horizon, the pandemic is expected to last for a long time. As a result, the use of surgical masks and face shields will become more widespread boosting the production and growth of the medical face shield industry.