Photo: Twitter / UCLA Health
A mere couple of days after calling the panic over the alarming rate of COVID-19 infections “dumb” and implying that fears were disproportionate to the situation, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has had a change of heart. And became good guy Elon in the process.
Over the weekend, Musk spoke to CleanTechnica about reports that Tesla would start building ventilators (or ventilator parts) now that business was temporarily shuttered in the U.S. He also revealed Tesla had a surplus of PPEs (Personal Protective Equipment) that could be used by hospital staff in the fight against the new Coronavirus.
It didn’t take long for requests for donations to come through and Elon has already responded to a couple of them, handing over 300,000 masks with N95 protection level and other protective gear like gowns and goggles. All these supplies are essential to medical staff as they prepare for an increased number of patients in the coming days, and their own supplies are running short.
These PPEs are medical and industrial grade, so Tesla (and other companies) have a backup supply for their workers. With the workers at home during the shelter-in-place order or working remotely, the supplies can be put to much better use.
The UCLA Health Hospital got 250,000 masks and other protective gear, while UW Medicine in Seattle received 50,000 masks and gears. In both cases, delivery of the products was swift, even bypassing the regular channels a company has to go through for this type of thing, in the case of the latter donation.
Dr. Kristina Adams Waldorf tells The Seattle Times that one of her friends’ brother works for Tesla and he reached out to Musk, after hearing of the impending shortage of PPEs at the hospital. Within hours, Tesla had delivered the PPEs at the doctor’s home, who had to clean out her garage of personal belongings to make room for them. The Tesla donation also highlight the current plight of the hospital, encouraging more people to donate.
It didn’t take long for requests for donations to come through and Elon has already responded to a couple of them, handing over 300,000 masks with N95 protection level and other protective gear like gowns and goggles. All these supplies are essential to medical staff as they prepare for an increased number of patients in the coming days, and their own supplies are running short.
These PPEs are medical and industrial grade, so Tesla (and other companies) have a backup supply for their workers. With the workers at home during the shelter-in-place order or working remotely, the supplies can be put to much better use.
The UCLA Health Hospital got 250,000 masks and other protective gear, while UW Medicine in Seattle received 50,000 masks and gears. In both cases, delivery of the products was swift, even bypassing the regular channels a company has to go through for this type of thing, in the case of the latter donation.
Dr. Kristina Adams Waldorf tells The Seattle Times that one of her friends’ brother works for Tesla and he reached out to Musk, after hearing of the impending shortage of PPEs at the hospital. Within hours, Tesla had delivered the PPEs at the doctor’s home, who had to clean out her garage of personal belongings to make room for them. The Tesla donation also highlight the current plight of the hospital, encouraging more people to donate.
We have N95 masks & getting PAPRs. Will have our team reach out.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 21, 2020
Stronger together. Some much-needed supplies have arrived! Thank you @elonmusk and @Tesla for your generosity and being part of #TeamLA. #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/3kJXCrXUu3
— UCLA Health (@UCLAHealth) March 22, 2020
I want to publicly thank @elonmusk for sending a truckload of PPEs (masks, gowns, etc.) to UCLA Health today! They will be put to good use. My wife, her co-workers and her patients thank you profusely. pic.twitter.com/SiAdqMcPCT
— Peyton Reed (@MrPeytonReed) March 22, 2020
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