Britain has placed an order for 10,000 ventilators which will be made by a consortium of companies consisting of Ford Motor, Airbus and Rolls-Royce as part of efforts to battle the coronavirus pandemic.
Governments across the world are attempting to increase the number of ventilators which are mechanical breathing devices capable of blowing air and oxygen into the lungs.
The equipment is important for the care of people who suffer lung failure, which can be among the complications suffered by patients with serious COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. But they do not necessarily save lives.
Britain’s publicly funded National Health Service has slightly over 8,000 ventilators at its disposal, senior government minister Michael Gove stated.
The government is increasing capacity through agreements made with the private sector and overseas providers as well as domestic production.
“We’ve done a deal with (vacuum cleaner company) Dyson, which means that – provided all the appropriate tests are passed – we can have extra 10,000 ventilators,” Gove stated.
“There are other companies, from McLaren to Rolls-Royce and others, who are modifying the way in which they manufacture in order to join in the national effort to boost the ventilator capacity available.”
McLaren stated its Formula 1 car-making, data and electronics operations are meeting a number of tasks to help with the crisis, including making parts.
“McLaren Automotive is facilitating duplicating and broadening the production of existing devices to meet demand …(and) is designing bespoke trolleys on which the ventilators are fixed for use in clinical settings.”
About 25,150 people in the UK have been confirmed as being infected with the coronavirus. The virus has killed 1,789 people in the country.
