Tesla to offer free ventilators amid COVID-19 pandemic

ANKARA

American electric vehicle and clean energy company Tesla announced that it will deliver ventilators free of charge to hospitals across the world, much-needed equipment amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"We have extra FDA-approved ventilators. Will ship to hospitals worldwide within Tesla delivery regions. Device & shipping costs are free," Tesla's CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter late Tuesday.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is a regulator body and a federal agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Musk had only one condition. "The only requirement is that the vents are needed immediately for patients, not stored in a warehouse," he said.

The company’s CEO urged interested parties to get in touch with him or Tesla.

Last week, Musk said they had bought more than 1,200 surplus ventilators from China and shipped them to the U.S. by air.

California's Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom confirmed last week that Musk had given 1,000 ventilators to his state.

Tesla's offer of free ventilators comes at a time when the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has been pushing American corporations such as General Electric among others to speed up their ventilator output in a bid to meet increasing demand from COVID-19 patients in the country.

The number of people in the U.S. who have died from the novel coronavirus has surpassed the 4,000 marks, with 189,624 confirmed cases, according to data released by Johns Hopkins University.

This came hours after Trump warned that the next two weeks will be “very painful" in the U.S. in terms of deaths from the coronavirus.

After first appearing in Wuhan, China last December, the virus has spread to at least 180 countries and regions, according to U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.

Its data shows the confirmed number of cases worldwide have surpassed 860,100, with the death toll over 42,300 and more than 178,300 recoveries.