Elon Musk Offers Masks And Ventilators To Help Coronavirus Fight

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — On Monday, Hawthorne-based SpaceX founder Elon Musk became the latest tech world titan to swoop in with help battling the coronavirus pandemic. Musk told reporters he's procured about 1,200 ventilators to be ready for distribution in the U.S. this week to help coronavirus patients. He's also begun donating hundreds of thousands of face masks to healthcare workers.

Additionally, Musk promised to use the supply chains that support Tesla Inc. and Hawthorne-based SpaceX for help assembling ventilators to prepare for an anticipated shortage amid the coronavirus pandemic, said Governor Gavin Newsom. SpaceX is one one numerous tech world companies, including Apple and Facebook, to try to bridge the gap between what we need to fight the coronavirus and what we have. Similarly, manufactures such as General Motors have also stepped up to provide the factories and laborers to help build ventilators.

Musk tweeted that SpaceX would be producing ventilators and that he had a “long engineering discussion” with Minnesota-based ventilator manufacturer Medtronic, the the Los Angeles Times reported.

"We're working on getting other types of PPE [Personal Protective Equipment] too," Musk tweeted. "Ventilators should arrive within a few days."

Musk told Newsweek he expects to have as many as 1,200 ventilators to distribute within days but that "getting them delivered, installed & operating is the harder part."

The tech entrepreneur's companies are among a handful of automotive companies that have announced they'll be switching gears and looking into making ventilators as the United States braces itself for a surge of patients with coronavirus who are in need of the breathing machines.

However, just last week, Musk was skeptical that the ventilators would be ready by the time there is a critical shortage, tweeting Thursday that “we’re working on ventilators, even though I think there will not be a shortage by the time we can make enough to matter," the Times reported.

Medtronic said on Twitter that addressing the coronavirus is a group effort, and "We are grateful for the discussion with Elon Musk and Tesla as we work across industries to solve problems and get patients and hospitals the tools they need to continue saving lives. We're all in this together."

General Motors, Volkswagen and Ford have also reportedly been in talks with the White House or looked into making ventilators, Tech Crunch reported. Volkswagen said Friday it has created a task force to look into using 3D printing to make hospital ventilators, according to the website.

President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday, "Ford, General Motors and Tesla are being given the go ahead to make ventilators and other metal products, FAST! Go for it auto execs, lets see how good you are?"

The same day, the Food and Drug Administration said that it has reduced certain barriers in the approval process for medical devices to enable the swift production of ventilators, USA Today reported.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement to USA Today that the automakers and other manufacturers will be able to "more easily repurpose production lines to help increase supply" due to the changes.