Elon Musk Ships 1,200 Ventilators from China to USA

Elon Musk grins
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Lucas Nolan

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk stated in a recent tweet that he has shipped 1,225 ventilators from China to medical facilities in the United States.

Business Insider reports that the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk, has stated that he shipped 1,225 ventilators from China to Los Angeles as medical facilities across the United States face shortages due to the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic.

In a press conference on Monday, California Governor Gavin Newsom stated that Musk has delivered 1,000 ventilators to help California hospitals dealing with the Pandemic. It was reported on Monday evening that California has 2,203 confirmed cases of the coronavirus which has resulted in 43 deaths. “I told you a few days ago that [Musk] was likely to have 1,000 ventilators this week,” Newsom said. “They’ve arrived in Los Angeles… It was a heroic effort.”

Some questioned the legitimacy of Musk’s efforts, clarifying that the ventilators were not made by Musk but sourced from China:

Musk confirmed this in a tweet stating that China had a surplus of ventilators that Musk purchased

Musk has also suggested that Tesla would produce ventilators at its own factory, stating in a tweet: “We’re working on ventilators, even though I think there will not be a shortage by the time we can make enough to matter.”

A report from the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins published in February found that the US had about 170,000 ventilators, with 160,000 ventilators ready for use in hospitals along with approximately 8,900 held in a national reserve. One expert has estimated that approximately 1 million Americans may need ventilator treatment during the coronavirus pandemic, possibly resulting in a shortage of ventilators.

Twitter recently stated that it won’t be taking action against a misleading tweet sent by Musk last week in which he falsely claimed that children are “essentially immune” to the Wuhan coronavirus. Twitter has refused to take action against Musk’s tweet despite stating just one day earlier that it would be tightening its rules on coronavirus misinformation.

Musk stated in a tweet on Thursday: “Kids are essentially immune, but elderly with existing conditions are vulnerable. Family gatherings with close contact between kids & grandparents probably most risky.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stated that it is not true that children are immune to the virus. While adults are at a higher risk of infection, children can still get sick with the coronavirus. Musk’s tweet appears to be extremely similar to the types of tweets that Twitter promised to crack down on in an effort to stop the spread of misinformation relating to the virus. In fact, Musk’s post virtually mirrors Twitter’s example of a misleading tweet, which reads “COVID-19 does not infect children because we haven’t seen any cases of children being sick.”

In a blog post published on Wednesday Twitter stated that it would suppress:

Denial of established scientific facts about transmission during the incubation period or transmission guidance from global and local health authorities, such as ‘COVID-19 does not infect children because we haven’t seen any cases of children being sick.

Twitter told Business Insider that it has decided that Musk’s tweets don’t violate the site’s rules when looking at the overall context and conclusion. The firm stated that it would continue to consult its fact-checking partner to identify misinformation on the platform.

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com

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