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In my daily routine of YouTube I try to include a session devoted to photography as well as one with scale model building. I daresay you are the same with your hobbies and interests. It makes a nice change from Facebook and the endless Trump and kitten videos.
The host of the scale model show has a company in the UK that sells tools and supplies for model building - some of which are made in China. He's been concerned that the factory making a popular range of sanding blocks is closed now, and he's going to miss another window of production time for his stock. The situation is also repeated in Europe where a supplier of pigments is also closed. He says his biz is now on furlough until Christmas.
Now you might say that the hobbyists just need to go down to their local Bunnings and get a few sheets of wet and dry and glue them to coffee stirrers...and so we will...but it does point out that there may be closures of manufacturing plants that supply items further down the maker's chain, and this might be happening now in the photo trade.
Best thought is it will all come right in a few month's time, and we can all just soldier on with what we have at present. Do that, but consider what it is you do and what you do it with. If you are engaged in photography that uses consumables you may come to a time when they run out. You are then at the mercy of that supply line and the restart schedule.
Worst thought is if some factory that was supplying something that you depend upon finds that it is impossible to restart...or not worth the re-investment. I don't suppose that there are many West Australian photographers using quarter-plate glass negatives in bellows cameras any more, but if there are they might regard this as a good time to make a change...
If your printer is so old that cartridges are a sometimes find, consider changing to a new one with a solid supply of consumables. If you habitually run on a half-packet of paper and have it in your mind to get another half some day...today is the day. And pick a line that will be carrying on - not some boutique oncer.
Don't hoard...but do look closely at your needs and plan sensibly.
