Amazon's signature is operational efficiency and doing everything it can to deliver orders to customers the same or next day, but its vast network is no match for COVID-19. The company has stopped accepting new orders to its Prime Pantry service, which delivers a range of non-perishable grocery items.

The website for Prime Pantry now includes a notice at the top in bold that reads, "Pantry is temporarily closed. We are busy restocking." Amazon told CNBC that the closure is due to high order volumes. Its other deliveries are also facing delays.

Unnecessary hoarding might be to blame — A rush by the public to stock up for the end-times combined with a moral obligation for businesses to send their employees home wherever possible is causing disruptions all along the supply chain. The fast-moving outbreak of novel coronavirus that has killed nearly 10,000 people was an exceptional circumstance that's pretty hard to predict. In response, Amazon has said it will hire 100,000 new workers to address the demand from consumers rushing to hoard toilet paper that's not at all facing a shortage. Amazon has also told third-party sellers that it will be "temporarily prioritizing" shipments of household goods stored in its warehouses.

Once this activity is addressed with more fulfillment resources it seems likely the Pantry closure will be ironed out. Amazon will have to offer assurances that it's protecting its warehouse workers from exposure, however. The company had to close one warehouse in New York after an employee tested positive for COVID-19.