Editorial | Global cooperation and coordination is needed to beat Covid-19

The US and other countries are imposing export restrictions on medical supplies and protective gear while governments everywhere are tussling for resources. But with Covid-19 far from peaking, now is not the time to fight

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A researcher works on virus replication in order to development a vaccine against Covid-19, in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:19pm, 11 Apr 2020Updated: 11:19pm, 11 Apr 2020

China is the factory of the world when it comes to the medical supplies and protective gear needed to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. With the disease rapidly spreading and many foreign governments having been caught off guard, Beijing is in a powerful position with supply and demand. There is a frenzy of activity to get supplies and competition among nations is fierce, so the key to protecting populations would appear to be speed and deep pockets. But Chinese authorities have taken a responsible tack, promising not to restrict exports and providing support and assistance.

The approach is markedly different from that of United States President Donald Trump. His “America first” policy has been starkly apparent with his country in the grip of the disease. He has warned private companies producing equipment and protective gear that they will suffer consequences if they do not give priority to the US. He announced on April 2 he was invoking the Defence Production Act to restrict exports of crucial medical gear.

The move has caused consternation among allies such as neighbouring Canada and in Latin America, where respirators and other equipment being produced by US companies are urgently needed. There have also been reports of face masks being shipped to France and Germany from Chinese factories suddenly getting diverted to the US after American buyers stepped in and offered higher prices.

Trump administration officials have denied such accusations, but there is no disputing that the US is trying to acquire as much protective gear and equipment as possible; the president said so earlier this month, contending that “if people don’t give us what we need for our people, we’re going to be very tough” – although in remarks since, he has expressed willingness to share excess output of ventilators with Britain and other countries.

Such an attitude ignores free-trade agreements and alliances. Affected governments could retaliate by also halting supplies of vital materials to the US. There are humanitarian concerns, where health care workers in other countries rely on existing contracts to carry out their work and especially so at such a critical time for populations. But denying allies supplies is one matter; not allowing them to flow to poorer ones is a mistake; it could worsen and lengthen the crisis by ensuring some governments are unable to defeat the virus, which could then re-emerge in the US and other developed countries after they believed they had beaten it.

The US is not the only country imposing export restrictions and governments everywhere are tussling for resources. But with Covid-19 still spreading and far from peaking, now is not the time to fight. The world needs to cooperate and coordinate or the disease will not be defeated.