The coronavirus pandemic has had profound effects on the global community, from the global economy teetering on a recession to shortages of essential medical products. In the face of scarcity of ventilators, which are critical in supportive care for severe cases, major companies are pitching in to manufacture ventilators for hospitals throughout the world.
As a respiratory illness, the coronavirus can leave patients suffering from severe complications that makes it difficult to breathe on their own. The influx of severe cases of coronavirus has caused a global spike in demand for mechanical ventilators, which are necessary for supporting patients until they can recover. A global shortage of ventilators in major hospitals poses a grave threat, especially as many hospitals are already overwhelmed with coronavirus cases. In response to the growing need, many major companies are preparing to begin manufacturing ventilators.
Dyson, a British technology company well known for its vacuum cleaners and blade-less fans, rose to the occasion, with the company designing and constructing a prototype ventilator after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson contacted founder James Dyson. In a letter to employees, James Dyson announced that an order for 10,000 ventilators by the British government. Dyson stated that the ventilators would be ready by early April. Other British companies such as Meggitt (OTC: MEGGF) and McLaren are gearing up to provide ventilators as well.
Meanwhile, in the United States, Elon Musk has announced that Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) is working to reopen its New York gigafactory to produce ventilators for the State of New York, which, of states with reported coronavirus cases, has been hit the hardest by the pandemic. "Giga New York will reopen for ventilator production as soon as humanly possible. We will do anything in our power to help the citizens of New York," said Musk.
While Tesla prepares to reopen it's New York Gigafactory, American industry giants Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F), 3M (NYSE: MMM), and General Electric (NYSE: GE) are banding together to pool resources and manpower to produce ventilators as well. Ford recently sent engineers to meet with GE and 3M staff to discuss plans to increase the production of several existing product lines, including 3M's protective respirators, GE's lines of ventilators, and protective face shields. Ford, 3M, and GE will repurpose existing parts to speed up the manufacturing process and get products into hospitals sooner, such as using parts from Ford's line of pickups and 3M's existing range of air filters.
In an additional effort to help the medical sector, some groups are looking to publish open-source designs for low-cost, easy-to-manufacture ventilators to enable more groups to be able to join the production effort. A group of researchers at MIT recently unveiled a design that is currently undergoing approval by the FDA. The device designed by the researchers, along with others produced by engineers, medical researchers, and ordinary citizens, all use components readily available and commonly found in medical facilities across the country.