Most countries around the world are lifting COVID19 lockdowns and easing restrictions over face masks, testing, and travel bans, which if anything signals the possibility of an approaching end to the risk the virus has been posing to humanity for over two years.
Despite a few exceptions, most of the globe is seeing slowing rates of infections and lower death rates, thanks to vaccines and the relatively more mild Omicron variant that has spread throughout the last few months.
This improvement in terms of infections has been reflected in countries' policies, starting from decisions to end lockdown measures and limit masks and gatherings mandates.
However and while this is great news for many industries, particularly ones that have been hit hard by the pandemic for the last two years, it is gravely disappointing to many others, especially ones that emerged because of the COVID19 outbreak in 2020.
When looking at each of the many industries that have taken advantage of the pandemic outbreak, we can see some serious threats to some, while anticipating smart strategic plans by others to maintain their activities and continue to make a profit even after the COVID19 emergency comes to an end.
COVID19 Industries
One of the most pressing questions we need to contemplate for the next few months is whether or not COVID19-reliant industries will be losing the gains they made throughout the last two years. Will they adjust their processes to ensure sustainably after the pandemic? Will they have to explore new production lines, ones that are less dependent on the virus?
For the past two years of the COVID19 outbreak, we have consumed trillions of face masks and millions of healthcare tools and supplies, such as COVID19 tests, both PCR and rapid ones, granting manufacturers billions of dollars in profit. According to a 2021 study by Global Market Insights, Inc, the revenue of the global face mask market is expected to cross $7 billion by 2027.
Negative COVID19 swaps have been the main travel requirement by many countries and entities, which boosted sales for PCR and rapid tests, let alone the non-stop testing that has been happening at growing rates amongst infected people and those who come in contact with them.
According to a recent report by Forbes, BinaxNow COVID test, which is considered one of the most famous and trusted ones developed by Illinois-based Abbott Laboratories has generated $7.7 billion in 2021 alone, which is almost double the revenue from 2021 ($3.9 billion), sending their shares up by 46%. Similarly, the antigen test called BD Veritor has contributed to the developer's (Becton Dickinson) shares' jump by 10% in 2021.
Likewise, suppliers of the ventilator and special care unit equipment witnessed huge growth during the pandemic. For example, Philips saw its sales grow by 10% during the third quarter of 2020.
One of the least expected outcomes of the pandemic is the global shift to remote work and education settings, ones that caused a new tech revolution that boosted video conferencing applications like never before.
You will find more infographics at Statista
Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet, and many others have all seen their revenues jump as a result of the outbreak, as billions of students and employees worldwide used them for prolonged hours and on daily basis. According to businessofapps, meetings on Zoom have grown by 2900% since the spring of 2020. Zoom also generated $4 billion in revenue during 2021, with a 53% year-on-year increase.
Even after relative stability in terms of COVID, hybrid and remote options are still available in both work and education, helping these apps remain relevant. But will they lose grounds in case COVID19 is no longer around?
One more industry that might see a decline in sales in the coming months is hygiene and disinfection products. However, their profit can still be higher than it was prior to the pandemic as more people are now germophobic than before 2020.
Promotion and marketing plans are expected to continue addressing the risk of other viruses and infections as a way to sell more products.
COVID19 has not ended, of course. For several days now, China has been on high alert with lockdown rules imposed on the cities of Shenzhen, Langfang, Dongguan, hoping to curb the viral spread in the country that has always claimed high management of the outbreak. But eyes remain on global death and vaccination rates to determine whether or not we can restore some sense of normalcy in the near future.
