OK, now we're fucked[1]. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffle_House_Index
“They [Waffle House] have good risk management plans in place and are great examples of how their supply chains get affected in two different ways. On the one hand, your own supply chain is exposed,” he continued. “At the same time, your stores are supposed to be the first to react and provide the basic supplies. Your supply goes down, while your demand goes up.”
In the context of this pandemic, the essential components for treating patients (N95 masks, respirators, tests, other PPE) require supply chains that span across multiple countries; of which are dealing with their own responses and can't act as net exporters of these materials. The US response of tapping into its stockpile may give a faster immediate response, but there's practically zero domestic manufacturing capacity at a time when they're needed most. Governor Cuomo of New York said the federal government offered 400 ventilators, when the state needed nearly two orders of magnitude more than that [1]. Flattening the curve will take much longer if patients and providers don't have access to these tools.
[0] https://www.ehstoday.com/emergency-management/article/219068...
[1] https://twitter.com/MichaelSkolnik/status/124248080874252288...