Italian officials vet passengers at Bologna airport.
The Government Procurement and Property division is asking agencies to limit their demand for IT hardware to urgent and planned activity as COVID-19 affects supply.
The unit issued the warning to agencies in February and yesterday told Reseller News it was continuing to monitor the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on supply, particularly in relation to IT hardware.
The procurement division said it was working to understand where the supply chain may be prevented from meeting the demands of government agencies (specifically critical sectors) under the All of Government contracts it manages.
In its February notice, it told agencies that disruption from the COVID-19 outbreak in China was already affecting the manufacturing sector.
China was going back to work after the lunar New Year, it said in a notice, however this was limited to critical services such as infrastructure, medicine and medical supply.
"The delay in factories being reopened has affected the IT hardware supply chain which will result in supply issues in the upcoming weeks," it told agencies.
"With this in mind we are asking that you limit work with your supplier to urgent requirements you have, or any planned procurements you have already in progress.
"Please don’t send in large orders as this will only cause more issues."
It did not provide any detail of current shortages when asked this week.
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