Elon Musk says Tesla will make ventilators for hospitals if needed

Authored by mashable.com and submitted by AdamCannon

Tesla CEO Elon Musk says the company will make ventilators for hospitals "if there is a shortage."

The comment came as a reply to one Twitter user's suggestion for Tesla to repurpose its Fremont factory to make ventilators in the wake of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

We will make ventilators if there is a shortage — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 19, 2020

The ventilators Musk is referring to are likely mechanical ventilators that are used in treating critical COVID-19. There's currently good indication that the U.S. doesn't have enough ventilators to cater to all infected persons. The Society of Critical Care Medicine estimates that 960,000 people may need to be put on ventilators, and the U.S. only has about 200,000 of them.

Musk later clarified that making these ventilators in Tesla factories is possible but may require time. "Tesla makes cars with sophisticated hvac systems. SpaceX makes spacecraft with life support systems. Ventilators are not difficult, but cannot be produced instantly," he tweeted.

Tesla makes cars with sophisticated hvac systems. SpaceX makes spacecraft with life support systems. Ventilators are not difficult, but cannot be produced instantly. Which hospitals have these shortages you speak of right now? — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 19, 2020

The conversation is related to the partial closure of Tesla's Fremont factory due to shelter-in-place orders in Alameda County, California, where the factory is located. After negotiations with the Sheriff's Office, Tesla was allowed to operate with one fourth of its workforce, and under the assumption that no vehicles will be manufactured in the factory.

SEE ALSO: Tesla has officially produced one million cars

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly stated that the coronavirus panic is more dangerous than the virus itself. On Tuesday, he tweeted that the "danger of panic still far exceeds danger of corona imo." Last week, he tweeted "the coronavirus panic is dumb."

COVID-19 – the disease caused by coronavirus – has so far killed more than 8,600 and infected more than 207,000 people. The outbreak has been worsening in the U.S. in recent weeks, with more than 8,700 confirmed cases and 149 deaths.

UPDATE: Thursday, March 19, 10:01 a.m. ET:

It looks like New York City mayor Bill de Blasio is willing to take Musk up on his offer.

jvale755 on March 19th, 2020 at 14:44 UTC »

Ventilator production needs to start a month ago. I work at a 250 bed hospital with 24 icu beds. We have 14-15 ventilators. We have some emergency vents but they are very basic, can only set volume and rate, no peep, only 100% oxygen

Hyperion1144 on March 19th, 2020 at 12:06 UTC »

I have a relative in the frontline healthcare industry in Washington state.

According to them, they have 3-4 weeks worth of PPE left, are currently trying to design their own homemade masks, and are talking about recruiting people who can sew to start making those custom designs.

We need it. Now. Start making ventilators and PPE for healthcare workers now.

RefreshNinja on March 19th, 2020 at 11:27 UTC »

"if"?