As the world faces a shortage of ventilators required for the treatment of COVID-19 patients, automobile manufacturers are stepping in to help with the crisis.
Anand Mahindra recently announced that Mahindra & Mahindra will start making ventilators as India prepares to enter stage 3 of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We need to create scores of temporary hospitals and we have a scarcity of ventilators. To help in the response of this unprecedented threat, we at the Mahindra Group will immediately begin work on how our manufacturing facilities can make ventilators,” Mahindra said in a series of tweets.
He also informed that Mahindra Holidays is ready to offer its resorts as temporary care facilities for COVID-19 patients.
He will use 100 per cent of his salary to fund the crisis.
Globally, General Motors (GM), Ford and Tesla have been given the go-ahead to produce ventilators, according to United States President Donald Trump. However, reports indicate that these could take months.
“Ford, General Motors and Tesla are being given the go ahead to make ventilators and other metal products, FAST!” Trump said on Twitter. “Go for it auto execs, let’s see how good you are?”
“We’re working on ventilators, even though I think there will not be a shortage by the time we can make enough to matter,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk has assured.
In the United Kingdom, Dyson, a leader of vacuum cleaners, is working with medical technology and development company TTP, The Technology Partnership, to test ventilators.
India, currently, has around 1 lakh ventilators and almost all of the ventilators are imported or assembled here. The demand can be as high as 70,000 ventilators with 4,000 to 5,000 units required for month, experts noted.
Automakers ramping up to make medical equipment is reminiscent of how they made aircraft, weapons, tanks, etc during World War II.
