The seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic has urged private companies to use their resources and help out in any way they can. Ford, for example, recently announced that they’d be repurposing F-150 parts to create a new kind of ventilator for COVID-19 patients.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, is also doing his part and has recently tweeted that Tesla is currently in possession of extra FDA-approved ventilators. Musk says they will ship these for free as long as its within Tesla’s delivery areas.
He also expressed that these ventilators will be shipped worldwide for free. However, they are requiring that the ventilators go directly to patients in need and not just for stock or storage.
We have extra FDA-approved ventilators. Will ship to hospitals worldwide within Tesla delivery regions. Device & shipping cost are free. Only requirement is that the vents are needed immediately for patients, not stored in a warehouse. Please me or @Tesla know.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 31, 2020
With the confirmed number of coronavirus cases in the US steadily rising and medical supplies and tests dwindling, citizens have been asking the government and manufacturers to hasten the production of ventilators and other medical supplies.
According to the tracker developed by Johns Hopkins University, the US has now surpassed Italy and China with the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases. At the time of writing, the US’ current count for confirmed cases is at 189,510. Italy and Spain have also surpassed China’s numbers with Spain nearing 100,000 confirmed cases.
