Now, the bad news: Even more concerning, and uncertain, are the ripple effects that might happen if the coronavirus strikes the very workers who run the paper mills, hand sanitizing factories, and shipping distribution centers. Because a single worker’s illness may mean quarantining co-workers who’ve come into contact with him, a case of COVID-19 could hobble an entire operation.

It’s not an entirely unrealistic proposition. GoJo, which manufactures Purell hand sanitizer, reported a worker with COVID-19 at one of its two Ohio plants. Boeing halted production at its aircraft plants in Washington state after at least one worker there died of the disease. In Malaysia, officials shut down several palm oil plantations after workers contracted the coronavirus.

Outbreaks aboard freighter ships could pose a problem. Maersk, the world’s largest ocean shipping company, said in late March five crewmembers on of one of its ships had contracted the coronavirus and disembarked in Ningbo, China, for medical evaluation. 

Some are worried enough to sound alarms: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations warned widespread quarantines or export restrictions, combined with outbreaks among farm workers, could disrupt the supply chain and spark a food crisis. (There is no food shortage yet, it noted.)

For American consumers, disruptions to ocean shipping would probably have a minimal effect on food supply, says Andrew Novaković, a professor of agricultural economics at Cornell University. Because America is a major agricultural exporter, it has plenty of its own food. The bigger problem for U.S. farmers would be if they can’t export and sell the food they’ve already grown, leaving them with “product you can’t sell and then having prices go in the tank.”

With government-mandated shutdowns of many retail stores, and with consumers unenthusiastic about making large purchases, industry experts do expect the economic downturn to deal a blow to the shipping industry in the coming months. Some trucking companies have already announced partial layoffs, and Wallenius Wilhelmsen, which ships automobiles across the ocean, announced it would lay off 2,500 employees and place up to 10 ships in “cold layup,” according to shipping news website FreightWaves. Some current product shortages aren’t primarily due to shipping problems but to unprecedented demand. Facemasks, bottles of hand sanitizer, and ventilators have, in a matter of weeks, become vitally needed goods in the global fight against the coronavirus. There simply haven’t been enough to go around.

Manufacturers say they are making these products as quickly as they can. Gojo said its Purell-producing operations were running 24/7. It has added shifts, with some employees working overtime. 3M said it had doubled its global output of N95 masks to nearly 100 million per month.

These companies can’t build additional factories overnight, so other businesses have stepped up to help in ingenious ways. Dozens of U.S. craft distilleries, for example, have repurposed their alcohol-production capabilities to instead make hand sanitizer.

Clothing manufacturers are also helping, with companies such as Eddie Bauer and Ralph Lauren retooling their production lines to produce masks for medical workers. Smaller companies have done the same—as have countless American volunteers handy with a thread and needle. (Not all of these masks are medical grade, but federal officials have said they are better than nothing.)

Back in the United States, motor vehicle companies are helping with more complicated medical equipment. They face pressure from President Donald Trump, who has invoked the Defense Production Act, which allows the government to order private companies to create products in the interest of national defense.

Ford said it would repurpose a facility in Ypsilanti, Mich., in a partnership with General Electric to produce 50,000 ventilators by July 4. The devices, in short supply in the United States, are crucial for the survival of COVID-19 patients, who often struggle to breathe on their own. General Motors and Tesla have also committed to making the devices.

Ford and 3M said they would work together to produce powered air-purifying respirators, waist-mounted devices with a hood that would provide first responders and medical workers safe, filtered air. The devices would be manufactured using fan parts from the cooled seats of Ford’s F-150s.

Can these companies, and can the Trump administration, work together quickly enough to save the lives of COVID-19 patients? Millions of Americans hope so.

—This story has been updated to correct the spelling of truck driver Mathew Tubbs’ name.