After offering to manufacture ventilators if there is a shortage, SpaceX owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has offered 1,255 ventilators for free to support the fight against Covid-19. Musk has been tweeting frequently about the outbreak and this comes as hospitals across the world are facing deficits in medical equipment.

Confirming the news, Musk has said that since China had an oversupply, he bought 1,255 FDA-approved ResMed, Philips and Medtronic ventilators. “If you want a free ventilator installed, please let us know!,” he added in the tweet.

This also follows Musk’s discussions with medical device company Medtronic about the production and supply of its ventilators.

Ventilators have emerged as a crucial tool in treating Covid-19, which in some cases can cause severe respiratory problems. Responding to the surge in demand of these life-saving machines across healthcare systems in the world, Medtronic had committed to double its capacity to manufacture and supply high-performance ventilators in the coming days.

The company has reportedly been working 24/7 to increase production capacity to double its usual weekly volume. “Demand is unprecedented. Our teams are meeting daily to explore every avenue to expand capacity,” said a company spokesperson.

Shortage Of Medical Equipments

Lack of protective gear like N95 face masks has been a worrying development. Furthermore, as Covid-19 cases grow in the US, many fear the same could soon be true for crucial medical devices like ventilators.

While the free machines have offered some relief, having more players get into the production and supply of these is the need of the hour.

US President  Donald Trump also mentioned that Tesla – along with some other automakers – were given the required approvals to produce ventilators.

Musk had also joined other tech companies like Apple and Facebook in donating thousands of N95 masks to hospitals in need. Both CEOs took to social media to make these announcements.

While Tim Cook had tweeted that the company has been donating “millions” of N95 industrial masks for healthcare providers in the US and Europe, Mark Zuckerberg had said in a post that the company was donating 7,20,000 masks in its efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19.