Tesla CEO Elon Musk reveals plans to build ventilators for COVID-19

U.S. auto giant Tesla, Inc.’s CEO, Elon Musk has recently made headlines when he announced that his company is planning to develop ventilators for COVID-19 patients. The move comes after the United States government’s latest appeal for donations of respirator masks to satisfy the supply shortage.

Musk said in a tweet that Tesla will think about developing new ventilators if the market witnesses any shortage. However, this tweet saw thousands of replies that urged him to immediately act on this matter.

Apart from Tesla, the World Health Organization is also in talks with China as well as other countries to boost the supplies of health instruments. Meanwhile, Ford Motor and General Motors have actively come forward to help this shortage by initiating talks with White House officials.

Reportedly, the Trump administration has requested several US construction firms to donate respirator masks to healthcare providers and hospitals that are working on curbing the spread of coronavirus.

Earlier this month, amidst all the precautionary measures, Tesla agreed to participate in the county’s lockdown measures by lowering the number of active staff in its California vehicle plant. For the record, Tesla employs over 10,000 workers in its sole US auto plant located in Fremont.

However, this move placed Elon Musk in the bad books of the local authorities as the company denies implementing a complete lockdown. Apparently, a quarter of the employees at Tesla's Northern California plant still continue to operate the assembly lines in the facility daily.

Evidently, California’s local sheriff office took a shot at Tesla in its latest tweet, criticizing the company for not adhering with a shelter-in-place order that went into effect this week. The regulator’s tweet slated that Tesla does not come under the essential business group which was predefined by the Alameda County.

Additionally, the county advised Tesla to continue with its "minimum basic operations" but close all other activities.

Source Credit: https://www.standard.net.au/story/6688126/musk-offers-to-make-ventilators-for-virus/?cs=5461