Countries across the globe are facing unprecedented shortages of healthcare supplies needed to combat the novel coronavirus pandemic. Nurses without gowns have started wearing garbage bags. Healthcare workers are running out of masks and have been told to use scarves or bandanas instead. Doctors desperately need ventilators, or machines that help people unable to breathe on their own.
Leaders like New York Governor Andrew Cuomo have been sounding the alarm and a number of businesses are already responding.
Here are 20 major companies that have already stepped up to the plate to help meet critical shortages.
Apple will donate millions of masks to healthcare workers.
Apple CEO Time Cook announced on Twitter that the tech company is designing and producing face shields to protect healthcare workers in the US throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Apple is also increasing the number of face masks it’s donating to 20 million, double the amount it had previously committed to providing.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the electric car company had bought hundreds of ventilators from China and shipped them to the US.
In late March, Musk tweeted: “China had an oversupply, so we bought 1,255 FDA-approved ResMed, Philips & Medtronic ventilators on Friday night & air shipped them to LA.”
While Musk’s ventilator efforts have been called into question, the billionaire maintains he has delivered the ventilators, responding to critics on Twitter.
Dyson will produce 10,000 ventilators for the UK and donate another 5,000.
Dyson, the company known for its vacuums, said it has received an emergency order from the United Kingdom for 10,000 ventilators, according to CNN. The company has already designed a new ventilator and plans on creating an additional 5,000 to donate internationally.
“This new device can be manufactured quickly, efficiently, and at volume,” Dyson wrote in a statement.
Ford, GE, and 3M are partnering to build ventilators and protective equipment.
Ford is providing technical and production efforts to make a simplified design of GE Healthcare’s existing ventilator, according to a press release. The car manufacturer is also providing engineers and facilities to help boost production of 3M’s PAPR, or powered air-purifying respirators, for healthcare workers.
Hanes is producing millions of cloth face masks, as well as hospital gowns for healthcare workers.
The t-shirt and underwear company is producing more than 20 million medical gowns that will be distributed by the US Federal Emergency Management Agency to hospitals and healthcare facilities in need. Hanes has already made and delivered over 60 million cloth face masks for the US government, according to Business Wire.
General Motors and Ventec Life Systems are partnering to build ventilators, and the car manufacturer will soon start producing more than 50,000 face masks per day.
Ventec Life Systems and General Motors are partnering to build VOCSN critical care ventilators at GM’s Kokomo, Indiana, manufacturing facility. The FDA-cleared ventilators are scheduled to ship “as soon as” April, according to a press release.
“Ventec and GM are poised to deliver the first ventilators next month and ramp up to a manufacturing capacity of more than 10,000 critical care ventilators per month with the infrastructure and capability to scale further,” the statement read.
In addition, the companies will, over the next two weeks, ramp up production of face masks to the tune of 50,000 masks or more per day.
This announcement comes after President Trump accused GM, in a tweet, of moving too slowly and charging too much for the equipment. GM said it was waiting for the federal government to place orders to start production, according to Bloomberg.
GM said in a statement that it will be “donating its resources at cost.”
Gap has converted its factories to make masks, gowns, and scrubs.
Gap announced via Twitter that it would “pivot resources so factory partners can make masks, gowns & scrubs for healthcare workers on the front lines,” Business Insider reported.
Inditex, owner of the retail store Zara, announced that it will donate masks to coronavirus patients and health officials in Spain.
The fashion giant said it’s also looking into converting factories to manufacture hospital gowns, Business Insider previously reported.
The maker of Absolut Vodka and Jameson Irish Whiskey said it is converting facilities to produce hand sanitizer.
Pernod Ricard, the producer of Absolut Vodka and Jameson Irish Whiskey, said it will start to produce hand sanitizer at all its US distilleries, Business Insider’s Jessica Snouwaert reported.
Luxury conglomerate LVMH, the parent company of Louis Vuitton, turned its perfume factories into hand sanitizer manufacturers.
The move will help combat the shortage of sanitizer in France, Business Insider reported.
The fashion designers have responded to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s request for help meeting supply demands, Business Insider’s Celia Fernandez reported.
“If @NYGovCuomo says we need masks my team will help make some. I have a full sewing team still on staff working from home that can help,” Siriano tweeted.
So far, Siriano’s team has made over 1,000 masks in three days.
Unilever will donate soap and sanitizer to the World Economic Forum’s emergency task force.
As part of a 100-million euro COVID-19 response plan, Unilever will donate at least 50 million euros worth of soaps and hand sanitizer to the World Economic Forum and the World Health Organization’s emergency task force that’s working with companies and governments globally to respond to the pandemic.
In addition, Unilever will use its current manufacturing lines to produce sanitizer for use in hospitals, schools and other institutional settings, according to a press release.
Prada is making 80,000 hospital gowns and 110,000 masks for healthcare professionals.
Additionally, Prada co-CEOs Muiccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli, alongside the brand’s chairman Carlo Mazzi, have donated two resuscitation and complete intensive care units to three hospitals in Milan, according to a press release sent to Business Insider.
Prudential donated over 150,000 N95 respirators and face masks.
Prudential Financial has donated 153,000 face masks — including 75,000 N95 respirators — for healthcare workers in New Jersey. The company has also committed $1.5 million in funding for local businesses and community support, both in the US and internationally, according to a press release.
Richard Branson’s rocket company, Virgin Orbit, has made a prototype of a ventilator and is hoping to start mass production in April.
Virgin Orbit has partnered with medical researchers at the University of California Irvine and the University of Texas at Austin to develop a ventilator device, according to a press release. The prototype secured emergency approval from the US Food and Drug Administration in late April and will begin mass production in May, according to Tech Crunch.
“We are all heartbroken each night as we turn on the news and see the predicament facing doctors and nurses as they heroically work to save lives,” Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart said in a press release. “I have never seen our team working harder. Never seen ideas moving quicker from design to prototype. We are hopeful that this device can help as we all prepare for the challenges ahead.”
Luxury menswear company Brooks Brothers announced it will produce 150,000 masks daily.
The retailer is in the process of converting its New York, North Carolina, and Massachusetts factories from manufacturing ties, shirts, and suits to making masks and gowns. Brooks Brothers plans to produce 150,000 masks daily, as well as an undisclosed number of hospital gowns, according to a press release.
American Giant is converting its North Carolina clothing factories into a face mask-making operation.
American Giant recently announced it retooled its sweatshirt and sweatpants-making factories in North Carolina to manufacture face masks.
“Effective today we are making HHS-certified medical masks and distributing them to the front line medical personnel that are confronting this crisis. Our initial target is 35,000 masks per week, and we expect to be climbing aggressively from there,” the company said in a press release.
Snap Lab, the hardware company behind Snap Inc.’s Spectacles, is producing medical face shields.
Snap Lab, the hardware company behind Snap Inc.’s video and photo glasses Spectacles, is pivoting to produce medical face shields during the coronavirus crisis, L.A. Biz reports.
The equipment will be donated to ICU staff at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, a hospital in Los Angeles.
Source: Business Insider
