Arnold Schwarzenegger was among a group of celebrities and tech giants who have set up a Go Fund Me account to buy vital equipment and PPE to help medics in the USA battling coronavirus.
The donation account The Frontline Responders Fund, set up by Arnold alongside filmmaker Edward Norton, philanthropist Ron Conway, Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen, and GoFundMe Chairman Rob Solomon
has already received over $2.8million (£2.4million) of its $5million (£4.25million) target after going live on Tuesday.
The donations will go towards buying personal protective equipment (PPE) for doctors and nurses on the frontline of the coronavirus epidemic, after a shortage of supplies means they are not properly protected.
Arnold said: ‘Our doctors, nurses and hospital staff are the real action heroes of this crisis. I just play one in the movies.
‘We have an opportunity and a responsibility to provide them with personal protective equipment right now to keep them safe as they fight this virus, so when I heard about Flexport.org’s plan, this was a no-brainer to me.
‘With all of the courageous work they are doing on the frontlines to keep us safe, buying a few hundred thousand masks with a million dollars is the least I can do. Please take a moment to join me in supporting our heroes.’
The funds will go towards buying masks, gowns, gloves and other critical supplies to protect medical professionals who are dealing with Covid-19 cases on the front line.
There has been a shortage of vital PPE in many areas around the world, and medics have been having to reuse masks more than once as well as improvise protective clothing.
Aside from the dangers to their own health, if a medical worker starts having symptoms of coronavirus, they can not work for at least 14 days to prevent spreading it to more people.
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