THE HEADLINE FOOLED ME FOR A SECOND, BUT WHAT AMAZON IS DOING IS STOPPING DELIVERIES FROM 3D PARTY SELLERS SO IT CAN FOCUS ON EMERGENCY GOODS: Amazon suspends all warehouse shipments except medical supplies and ‘high-demand’ products.

Amazon has temporarily suspended the shipment of all items from independent merchants to its warehouses that are not medical supplies or “high-demand” products.

This temporary suspension will go through 5 April as the e-commerce giant prioritises products relating to combating the growing coronavirus pandemic.

“We are temporarily prioritising household staples, medical supplies and other high-demand products coming into our fulfilment centres so we can more quickly receive, restock, and ship these products to customers,” an Amazon spokesperson told the Independent.

“We understand this is a change for our selling partners and appreciate their understanding as we temporarily prioritise these products for customers,” the spokesperson added.

This decision from Amazon comes after the online site saw an increase in shopping from people around the world. Items prioritised by shoppers and subsequently going out of stock related to cleaning supplies and other necessary items for Covid-19.

Amazon is part of the emergency supply chain, and they’re acting like it.

UPDATE: So I found the actual Amazon announcement and there’s more to it than third-party sellers:

We are seeing increased online shopping and as a result some products such as household staples and medical supplies are out of stock. With this in mind, we are temporarily prioritizing household staples, medical supplies and other high-demand products coming into our fulfillment centers so that we can more quickly receive, restock, and ship these products to customers.

For products other than these, we have temporarily disabled shipment creation. We are taking a similar approach with retail vendors.

This will be in effect today through April 5, 2020, and we will let you know once we resume regular operations. Shipments created before today will be received at fulfillment centers.

Here’s the list of prioritized products:

Baby Products
Health & Household
Beauty & Personal Care (including personal care appliances)
Grocery
Industrial & Scientific
Pet Supplies

Plus, the announcement that Amazon is prioritizing its own retail products — not just those from third party sellers — the same way. Like I said, they’re part of the emergency supply chain, and they’re acting like it.

Related: Amazon Deprioritizes Book Sales Amid Coronavirus Crisis. Another advantage for Kindle books.