Large-scale lockdowns are back?! Non-essential goods delivery is stopped

Recently, the epidemic in India broke out suddenly, and the number of confirmed cases has set records for more than ten consecutive days. The local government quickly entered a state of lockdown, requiring e-commerce companies such as Amazon and Flipkart to only deliver daily necessities.

On the 19th and 20th, several cities, including the capital Delhi, announced the implementation of city lockdowns. A large number of local basic jobs could no longer be carried out, including warehouses and distribution of e-commerce companies such as Amazon. They had to reduce transportation jobs and could only deliver daily necessities.

That night, tens of thousands of migrant workers who lost their jobs were forced to leave Delhi and return to their hometowns. On the 19th alone, 50,000 people were stuck in traffic at Delhi Station and unable to return home , and the number is still increasing.

In response to the lockdown regulations, Amazon has confirmed that it will deliver necessities in accordance with the new guidelines set by the government. However, Amazon also believes that the emergency needs of different families are different, so it is not practical to fix necessities into certain categories. Therefore, Amazon is also communicating with the Delhi government to apply for permission to sell and deliver more categories.

On the homepage of Amazon India, there is a notice that only essential items will be delivered. Flipkart has not yet officially responded to this government policy.

Currently, the products that can be sold in the blockaded areas include health and personal care products, groceries and gourmet food, beauty essentials, baby products, home and kitchen supplies, skin and hair care essentials, medical equipment, pet supplies, and masks.

The local government’s lockdown order came so urgently that it drove away local migrant workers without giving them a chance to prepare, because the recent epidemic in India was too exaggerated.

India had originally claimed to have controlled the epidemic, and the confirmed data released had remained at a low level. However, since April, the epidemic has seen an incredible explosive growth. You can take a look at the confirmed case curve below.

The growth trend of the number of confirmed cases since April has been almost straight-line, with more than 200,000 confirmed cases for several consecutive days, and the highest number of confirmed cases in a single day even reached 270,000! India's medical conditions are very worrying. The capital Delhi has a population of more than 18 million, but there are only 40 ICU beds in the city . Due to the lack of timely treatment, the death toll is also soaring. The local crematorium said that since a gas leak in 1984 that killed 5,000 people, it has never seen so many bodies that need to be cremated.

There are many factors that led to this turning point. Foreign media attributed it mainly to the Indian local government's overconfidence and lack of preparation in its epidemic prevention measures. Decision makers, instigated by the media, prematurely announced victory over the epidemic and relaxed their vigilance. In addition, India held a cricket league and many religious sacrificial activities in late March, and the government failed to manage and guide these large-scale gatherings. Mistakes in many aspects ultimately led to the current situation.

If this trend continues, it is only a matter of time before India surpasses the United States to become the country with the most cases of infection. Moreover, the lockdown caused by such a major outbreak will last for a long time, which means that the Indian site will be unable to deliver non-essential goods for at least some time. As the epidemic worsens, restrictions or even suspension of FBA product entry into warehouses are likely to occur. The Indian site will now experience everything that the US site experienced in March and April last year, and it may even be more serious. Sellers must be prepared to deal with delivery delays and out-of-stock warehousing.