Furniture giant IKEA is producing face masks and other protective gear for hospitals, joining a growing list of companies branching out of their normal business areas to help meet equipment shortages in the fight against coronavirus.
FILE PHOTO: An IKEA store is pictured after nationwide all IKEA stores were closed during the spread of the coronavirus disease in Berlin, Germany, March 17, 2020. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch/File Photo
Several other companies are also working to help address an acute shortage of medical supplies, with vacuum cleaner company Dyson making ventilators, fashion group Armani producing medical overalls and spirits brand Ricard donating alcohol for sanitizers.IKEA has reopened all but one store in China, where the virus emerged, but across markets a majority of the 436 stores are temporarily closed.
“So, it is distributed differently - in some areas we keep it up well, in some we have a major impact.”Elm said supply chain disruptions had increased with the spread of the virus to Europe and America, with closed borders or restricted movement a key bottleneck.
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