Elon Musk Delivers 1,000 Ventilators to California Hospitals to Treat COVID-19 Patients

CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk was initially skeptical of the severity of the coronavirus outbreak. Luckily, he's now changed his mind and donated over 1,000 ventilators to hospitals in California to help in the midst of the pandemic. 

The Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, shared the news in a press conference on Monday. 

SEE ALSO: BILL & MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES $125 MILLION COVID-19 THERAPEUTICS ACCELERATOR

Shipped to Los Angeles

Musk tweeted last week that he would help get 1,255 ventilators from China and send them by airmail to Los Angeles. He then thanked Tesla staff and customs officials in China for their assistance in the project. 

Gov. Newsom shared the news by stating, "Elon Musk: how about this? I told you a few days ago he was likely to have 1,000 ventilators this week."

He continued, "They arrived in Los Angeles, and Elon Musk is already working with the hospital association and others to get those ventilators out in real-time. It’s a heroic effort."

Musk had already tweeted a few hints about the project last week where he said "We're working on ventilators, even though I think there will not be a shortage by the time we can make enough to matter."

It has to be noted that Musk also tweeted late on Monday night that the ventilators were stuck in LAX, which quickly prompted the airport to respond via Twitter that their customs reported no delayed incoming shipments — stay tuned on Twitter to find out how this pans out.

Yeah. We have a mask shipment stuck at LAX. Hopefully freed up soon.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 23, 2020

Customs reports no masks on hold or being inspected at LAX. Can you send us more details so we can help check on this?

— LAX Airport (@flyLAXairport) March 23, 2020

OK, after some additional investigating we’ve found that this shipment has since been cleared for release by the FDA. LAX, U.S. Customs and the FDA are all working together to expedite critical PPE shipments. Glad to hear it's resolved @elonmusk

— LAX Airport (@flyLAXairport) March 23, 2020

Much appreciated

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 23, 2020

As the CEO of the carmaking company Tesla, Musk isn't the only one in the automotive industry to lend a helping hand to the coronavirus cause. General Motors and Ford have both said they would contribute by making ventilators. A number of sectors are working to rearrange their skills and tasks to help meet the surging demand for medical devices around the world's hospitals.