Elon Musk has confirmed Tesla will supply hospitals with ventilators to help with the coronavirus outbreak. While the medical industry is in need of plenty of personal protective equipment, ventilators are in extremely low supply in many countries, even though they can be a life-saving device.

With coronavirus spreading at the rate it is, hospitals are quickly becoming overwhelmed by those with more serious symptoms and in need of urgent care. In the most serious cases, this includes ventilators to assist with breathing due to how the virus tends to impact on the respiratory system. However, the availability of ventilators has become a hot issue lately with many states in the US, and many countries around the world, struggling to acquire enough ventilators to meet current needs, let alone anticipated needs.

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Over the past few weeks, Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, had routinely made it clear the company was focused on helping out where possible. Now, Musk has confirmed via Twitter that Tesla will begin supplying hospitals with ventilators at no cost. What’s more, this appears to be a worldwide approach with the only limitation being the hospital must be located within an area where Tesla normally delivers. This is presumably a means to guarantee distribution, during a time where getting anything from one place to another can prove difficult.

Is Now The Time Musk & Tesla Step Up?

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While no one expects a company to automatically help, many have been vocal about their intention to, and Musk is no exception. As a result, many have been waiting to see when that talk will manifest into actionable moves and it is starting to look like now might be that time. Musk had previously confirmed a select number of ventilators had been acquired and were being donated, but the recent announcement appears to be more long-term, and substantial. Especially considering the worldwide delivery element.

However, there are still some questions that remained answered. The most obvious is just how many ventilators are on offer here. Musk has yet to confirm if there is a limit, and if so, what that limit is, and that’s going to be a massively important question for those cities and hospitals that are getting hit the hardest by the outbreak. For example, Musk did caveat the announcement by explaining that ventilators would only be sent to hospitals in numbers that reflect an immediate need for patients. In other words, Tesla is not currently willing to provide enough for hospitals to plan ahead and account for anticipated cases in the future. Whether that caveat is reflective of a limited number of ventilators available, or just a sign of Tesla wanting to manage inventory while sourcing ramps up, remains to be seen. Either way, any help with coronavirus ventilators is going to be a welcomed one by any hospital and city that can get them.

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Source: Elon Musk/Twitter