Every industry on earth has been impacted by the Coronavirus. While the immediate effect on economy and industry is tied to the simple fact of lockdown measures and unavailability of labor, workforces, and low-level demands, other sectors, such as the likes of Healthcare, have also been impacted directly in these difficult situations.
The healthcare industry is quite varied when it comes to categorising the services. This industry encompasses everything from services providing hospitals and private clinics to safe testing laboratories, educational institutes, and research centers. By considering the past records and trends, the facilitation providing niches of the healthcare sector has always been immune to conditions like pandemics or abrupt disease outbursts. Rather, in times of extreme medical demand, the healthcare sector has bloomed quite nicely in the past.
People getting sick or requiring medical attention have been continuing to do so regardless of times being good or bad. But the dynamics have changed during this pandemic as different lockdown and isolation measures are applied. The prospect of staying inside, minimising human contact as much as possible, avoiding disease spreading anchors or areas such as hospitals and clinical labs themselves, and the deceived idea of hoarding and gathering supplies has pushed the overall trajectory of healthcare towards a tough niche.
Increases in demands and prices of healthcare systems and low patient attendance are not the only impact that this pandemic has had on the healthcare industry. There is some silver lining as well. With the private sector rising to the occasion and offering as much help as people need in supplying testing equipment and beds. But how will this pandemic eventually impact the healthcare sector still has a silver lining to it as is yet to be discussed.
Investment and exposure:
Healthcare, being at the epicenter of this whole pandemic, is quite evidently impacted a lot in regards to the prevailing crisis. While the private sector is fully prepared for almost every eventuality, there are still two problems that they face. First is the additional investment in terms of manpower, equipment, staff, beds, and consumables. Secondly, the lack of elective surgeries and international patients has proven to be quite burdening as well. But, in spite of these, the greater investment will eventually lead to more favorable outcomes for the industry as the infected numbers ease up. The post-pandemic “normal” will be governed by this factor.
Clinical laboratories:
With the high demand for testing and clinical and cultural analysis, the medical labs have shown a brighter prospect. But as the lockdown measures prevail, the idea of pre-testings and mobile services has bloomed up. The equipment and the quality of testing matter a lot in this crisis and the future trajectory shows promising results provided the quality of this equipment is maintained carefully.
Whether it be flasks, test tubes, cell culture tubes, Petri dishes, culture probes or sensors, various platforms are now coming forward to increase the quality of these services, proving beneficial for the people and the healthcare sector alike. Authentic and foolproof testings will result in a correct assessment of the pandemic which will be the deciding factor in the end.
Increased awareness:
The widespread awareness and education regarding the pandemic is also a brighter prospect for the healthcare industry. Coupled with the fiscal stimulus that the worldwide governments are known to imply, the healthcare will definitely benefit greatly in the post-pandemic or end-pandemic era of this situation.
In conclusion, the healthcare industry, while lacking patients and facing price hikes, is bound to be benefited from this pandemic and become the epicenter and the only line of defense against this and any future adversaries to come.
Leave a Comment