As COVID-19 continues to spread exponentially, two of the largest tech companies are doing their part to help flatten the curve.
Aside from donating $15 million to the global COVID-19 response, Apple has mobilized its supply chain to source over 20 million face masks and are able to ship 1 million masks within the U.S. weekly. They’re working with governments around the world to expand distribution beyond the U.S.
“For Apple this is a labor of love and gratitude and we will share more of our efforts over time,”
Tim Cook
Take a look at Tim Cook’s response to COVID-19 below.
A group of automakers including Tesla have retooled their facilities to create ventilators. Ventilators help patients who are not able to breathe properly by forcing air into their lungs using pressure or volume control. The following video gives us a behind-the-scenes look at how Tesla has done this.
Tesla engineers are building ventilators from car parts to reduce the stress on the current demand for medical supplies. Using parts of the Tesla Model 3, including the infotainment computer and the vehicle controller, they are able to control valves that monitor and alter air pressure. The user interface is even displayed on the Model 3 widescreen display! Luckily, they keep a large stock of these car parts to minimize the risk of a production line shut down due to a missing part.
“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.”
Elon Musk, Tesla CEO
Every little bit counts but are these big tech companies doing all they can or are they taking advantage of the pandemic for positive publicity? Apple is worth $1 trillion and was recently called out for avoiding $40 billion in taxes. The White House ordered “hundreds of millions” of N95 masks (the medical grade mask used by medical professionals) and hospitals reportedly expect to go through 70,000 a day as this pandemic progresses; Apple’s only going to produce 20 million masks?
Am I being too critical? Maybe an additional benefit from Apple’s initiative is that these efforts will help inspire (or pressure) other companies to do what they can to battle this pandemic. Comment down below if you think tech giants need to do more, or if you don’t believe it’s their responsibility.
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