A timeline of the industry's COVID response

This week's issue of Plastics News focuses on the plastics industry response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As part of the project we wanted to see just how quickly companies and leaders mobilized. We took a look at our story archives plus major news events and compared them to the World Health Organizations official case numbers worldwide.

The hardest part was paring down the items. There were so many examples that we finally just had to put a pin in the timeline for broader subjects for some, rather than individual recognition.

I'm so proud to be a storyteller during this time for our industry.

On March 3, the WHO called for a 40 percent increase in the manufacturing of personal protective equipment, right as the virus began showing up widely beyond Asia and a few other pockets of the world.

By mid-March, just two weeks later, material distributors, machinery makers and automotive factories had already stepped up. On March 19, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security ruled plastics as essential, and we saw a remarkable response from processors and manufacturers.

Packaging firms jumped in to make whatever was needed, so did a pizza shop. Governors mobilized supply chains to get much needed PPE to hospitals and first responders.

Pulling back from the urgency reveals a whole new conversation for inventories and the lifecycle of products and indeed, the way we should forge ahead to limit the spread of all communicable diseases.

Click on the PDF symbol to view the timeline page from this week's print issue, showing the spread of the virus and industry’s response. View the full digital edition by subscribing here.