The coronavirus pandemic has wreaked unprecedented havoc on local and international economies. Measures to curb the pandemic and loss of life have resulted in devastating consequences such as job losses and many businesses having to permanently close.
With many countries looking to restart their economies, short term management of the pandemic will be essential until a vaccine can be found. Here are 2 ASX health shares that could lead the recovery.
ResMed Inc (ASX: RMD)
The coronavirus pandemic has put immense pressure on the availability of ventilators in healthcare systems around the world. The virus, which is spread through droplets or contact, has been shown to manifest into serious respiratory problems.
Recently, the federal government achieved its goal of reaching a capacity of 7,500 ventilators in the hospital system. The achievement was in a large part due to the surge in onshore production from ResMed. As a global leader in respiratory medical devices, ResMed was able to deliver 3,000 non-invasive and 260 invasive ventilators to the hospital system last week.
The ventilators supplied by ResMed will be held in a national stockpile and distributed to hospitals that require them. As a result, the sufficient supply o f ventilators will allow the government to potentially ease restrictions, as the economy looks to reboot.
As the company also has operations in the US, ResMed was included in the Defence Production Act that was decreed by the White House recently. Under the act, ResMed, along with other capable companies, is required to help facilitate the production and supply of ventilators in the US as the country faces a shortage of machines.
CSL Limited (ASX: CSL)
CSL is also looking to play a major part in helping the local and global economy get back on its feet. Not only is CSL one of Australia's highest quality business, but the company is also one of the largest global manufacturers in flu vaccines.
The company owns Australia's only onshore vaccine business Seqirus and looks to supply more than 13.5 million flu vaccinations as part of the government's National Immunisation Program. Health experts have urged members of the population to inoculate themselves against seasonal influenza infections in order to ensure that the hospital system is not overwhelmed during the pandemic.
In addition, CSL is also offering to help governments by lending its expertise, technology and facilities to develop a coronavirus vaccine and treatment. Although the company is not directly working on a vaccine, CSL is exploring the development of a hyperimmune serum that could be derived from the blood plasma of people who have recovered from coronavirus.
Foolish takeaway
The massive monetary and fiscal responses to the economic implications of the coronavirus pandemic will offer short-term relief. However, the ultimate solution to the pandemic will be to find a vaccine and also contain the spread while the economy looks to reboot and return to normalcy.
Both ResMed and CSL have done tremendous work in a bid to help the local economy recover. As a result, the share prices of both companies are trading near all-time highs as they look to become the next market leaders.
