The billionaire with the sceptic attitude to the coronavirus has donated 1,255 ventilators to California hospitals. Despite calling the virus panic ‘dumb’ last week, Elon Musk supports the local clinics with the needed equipment.
To help treat coronavirus patients, the Tesla founder made his substantial contribution in the battle against coronavirus in California, the state’s governor confirmed Monday.
“They’ve arrived in Los Angeles… It was a heroic effort,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a press conference.
The SpaceX boss mentioned the effort on Twitter Monday night, saying he bought the breathing machines Friday from China, where he claimed there was an oversupply, Business Insider reported. The ventilators were shipped to Los Angeles in order to help medical facilities in the US facing shortages due to the novel pathogen.
“If you want a free ventilator installed, please let us know!” Musk wrote.
The 48-year-old tech pioneer wasn’t always so enthusiastic about the cause. He tweeted on March 6: “The coronavirus panic is dumb,” and was immediately criticized harshly. As of Monday evening, California had 2,203 confirmed coronavirus cases and 43 deaths.
However, the deteriorating situation across the planet made the billionaire change his mind. Last week the entrepreneur said on Twitter that his company “will make ventilators if there is a shortage.” Musk insisted that manufacturing more hospital supplies would be a breeze.
“Tesla makes cars with sophisticated hvac systems. SpaceX makes spacecraft with life support systems. Ventilators are not difficult, but cannot be produced instantly,” Elon tweeted last Thursday.
As recent experience with COVID-19 shows, ventilators are key in treating a respiratory illness like a current virus. The Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins found in February that the US had about 170,000 ventilators, with 160,000 ventilators ready for use in hospitals along with about 8,900 held in a national reserve. In March, the shortages become evident.
To help in curbing disease, the inventor is continuing to support the local hospitals and mobile ambulances with the needed equipment. Following the information on stabile zero new cases in China, Elon Musk wrote on his new engineering discussion with Medtronic staff.
