President Donald Trump said this week that leading automakers General Motors Company (NYSE:GM), Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F), and Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) are already manufacturing ventilators without the need to invoke the Defense Production Act. On the contrary, the automakers are months away from preparing their factories to produce these essential medical supplies to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trump calls automakers
Trump has directly called the automakers like Ford, and General Motors on Monday without invoking the defense act or tells them to do this. He said they are already on the job to produce essential medical equipment. According to a report by the AP, it takes months for Ford and General Motors to convert their production plants to produce medical equipment. Tesla said it is making preparations to produce medical products. However, there is no evidence to support their actions.
A professor, Kaitlin Wowalk, who focuses on industrial supply chains, said the companies need to prepare to produce an entirely different product. Even if it is feasible to produce ventilators, Trump does not need to instruct them to do it. General Motors is in discussions with Ventec Life Systems to increase the manufacture of ventilators. However, General Motors did not inform where it will produce ventilators.
Confirmed coronavirus cases in the US are 59,909
According to the latest reports, confirmed cases in the US are 59,909. The total deaths in the US because of coronavirus pandemic are 791. New York has reported the highest number of deaths at 271, followed by Washington with 123 deaths. The situation in the US is alarming and requires immediate measures to contain the coronavirus.
According to Courno, the governor of New York, the state has procured seven thousand ventilators. It still needs a minimum of 30,000 ventilators in two weeks to address the rush. Fema sends just 400 ventilators. It necessitates the enactment of defense production act to produce a large number of ventilators.
New York states attract a large number of tourists from across the world. It also boasts the highest population. According to the estimates, several thousand in New York already contracted the coronavirus. Georgia, New Jersey, California, Louisiana, Michigan and Florida have reported new deaths of 6, 4, 4, 4, 3, and 1 respectively.
