COVID-19 Impact on Global Thoracic Surgery Devices Market in Healthcare Industry
The COVID-19 pandemic has gripped every nation's health care system and provisions on all levels. It is a respiratory disease which is caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2). The first case of COVID-19 can be traced back to November, 2019 in China weeks before the authorities announced the emergence of the new virus.
The virus has affected all regions such as North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America and Middle East and Africa. There is no region that is not affected by the virus. In March, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 as a pandemic referring to more than 118,000 cases of coronavirus disease in more than 110 countries and territories worldwide and the continuing possibility of further global spread.
While some countries have struggled to respond to the pandemic, others have faced the challenge far more effectively. The highest number of new confirmed cases globally was reported in December, 2020 (1,771,180). Countries such as the U.S., Brazil and Mexico were at the top with the highest death toll.
The pandemic has particularly impacted the field of thoracic surgery with elective (or cases which do not require immediate attention) operation being delayed while in some regions being halted. Certain clinical staffs have been asked to stay at home, there has been re-distribution of the clinical workforce to attend the COVID-19 patients causing disruption in normal public services affecting the healthcare workforce. As a result, the impact is noticeable in the thoracic surgery devices market.
Surgery on the organs in the chest or thorax requires thoracic surgery. The food pipe, wind pipe, lungs, chest wall, heart and diaphragm are among the most popular treatments. Thoracic surgery is frequently associated with heart surgery and is known as cardiothoracic surgery. The aim of thoracic surgery is to treat organs in the chest or thorax that are diseased or damaged.

IMPACT ON SUPPLY
The pandemic has triggered unprecedented increased demand for certain medical devices while significant disruption to manufacturing and supply chain of various others. The pandemic forced various countries to go into lockdown which also disrupted the supply chain of several raw materials and components for certain surgical medical devices including the devices used for thoracic surgeries.
For instance,
• In March 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) was signed into law. The CARES Act added Section 506J to the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) and provided the FDA for the first time with new authority that intended to help prevent or mitigate negative public health impacts of medical devices supply chain disruptions “during or in advance of a public health emergency declared by the Secretary under section 319 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act.” The creation of the law leads to the allowance of thoracic surgeries which was life threatening or of the utmost importance to be conducted while the patients who had to undergo thoracic surgeries to get an approval and the rest (unimportant as per the situation) were delayed indefinitely. This has slowed down the supply of thoracic surgery devices market.
However, the launch of new products and new acquisitions by the companies intend to increase the supply of the thoracic surgery devices market. Read in detail...