By
Svetlana Soroka
April 18th, 2024
Elon Musk has offered to manufacture ventilators if they become scarce. He said this while tweeting about a possible effective form of COVID-19 treatment.
Elon Musk has offered to manufacture ventilators in the U.S. to help beat COVID-19. Sources say that the serial entrepreneur indicated this on a twitter thread. Musk it appears has had a change of heart about coronavirus. This comes after he allegedly called the emotional response about the situation “dumb”.
The coronavirus panic is dumb
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 6, 2020
Although his tweet drew more than a million likes, many still thought that his tweet was out of line considering those who are sick and are dying from the disease.
Although he softened his stance, he was still adamant about the danger of panic.
That said, danger of panic still far exceeds danger of corona imo. If we over-allocate medical resources to corona, it will come at expense of treating other illnesses. Track graph at bottom of this page: https://t.co/7nWKjiZyFn
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 17, 2020
Within five days of his tweet, the World Health Organization had classified the disease as a pandemic. This further stoked fears of having an epidemic that closely resembles the early 20th Century flu situation.
Elon it seems is thinking outside the box on just about everything. In an apparent thought-stream which he tweeted out, he referred to the possibility of using a popular Malaria treatment drug for the treatment of COVID-19.
This drug which has been phased out in many developed countries isn’t available in plentiful supply. He was referring to a recent French study that identified Chloroquine as an effective means of treatment for COVID-19. Chloroquine is also used to treat Arthritis and a few other illnesses. It is available under different brand names.
Elon Musk Offers to Make Ventilators on His Plants
It was during this tweet session that many people replied to him and pleaded with him on the ventilator issue.
Maybe worth considering chloroquine for C19 https://t.co/LEYob7Jofr
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 16, 2020
In a reply, Musk responded with his offer.
We will make ventilators if there is a shortage
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 19, 2020
This comes as Auto manufacturers across America have offered to manufacture more ventilators. Already, The New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo recently said that the availability of ventilators was the key to overcoming the pandemic.
When he was informed about shortages already occurring, Elon reportedly asked for further information.
Tesla reduces the Number of Workers Because of COVID-19
Tesla is reportedly reeling from the effects of COVID-19. The automaker had to reduce the number of workers at its Fremont California facility. with a capacity of 10,000 that came as Alameda county Authorities implemented a shelter-in-place order. Tesla was also further classified as a “non-essential business”. These are all part of efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
There are reportedly about 162,000 ventilators in the United States. An additional 12,700 are in the emergency medical supplies reserves. Those are under the care of the U.S. Federal Government. However, the likelihood of ventilator scarcity remains unclear. Rising numbers in terms of the dead and the infected may cause this.
The greatest threat though will be mass hysteria which can be brought on by panic in extreme situations. As Elon reportedly suggests, everything will work out better if calm ensues. And then maybe some doses of Chloroquine (pun intended).