Science

SpaceX making hand sanitizer and face shields for medical workers treating coronavirus


Elon Musk’s Space X starts manufacturing hand sanitizer and donates protective suits and face shields to medical staff treating coronavirus

  • Memos show the company is making hand sanitize and face shields
  • The supplies are being donated to hospitals near SpaceX’s headquarters
  • So far it has donated at least 75 face shields and 100 medical suits 
  • Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?

SpaceX is manufacturing its own hand sanitizer and face shields to help combat an ongoing coronavirus pandemic according to a new report.

An internal memo reviewed by CNBC suggests the company is making supplies and donating them to hospitals and businesses.

CNBC reports that the memo, which was circulated to employees, states that SpaceX delivered 75 face shields over the weekend to Cedars Sinai, a health facility near the company’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California

Unlike respirator masks, shields cover the whole face from the top down in a suspended layer of plastic. 

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk (pictured) has directed the aerospace company to begin making face shields and hand sanitizer to bolster supplies for medical workers

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk (pictured) has directed the aerospace company to begin making face shields and hand sanitizer to bolster supplies for medical workers

The company also reportedly donated 100 ‘tyvek’ protective suits to medical workers there and is currently working on making hand sanitizer that ‘complies with CDC guidelines and is effective at killing the COVID-19 coronavirus,’ according to CNBC.

The decision to supply medical workers with protective equipment and disinfectants marks a shift in attitude by SpaceX’s founder Elon Musk who recently tweeted that the coronavirus panic was ‘dumb.’ 

In spite of that early comment, the billionaire also delivered 50,000 face masks to the Seattle home of a University of Washington where the coronavirus pandemic has spread rapidly.

Musk, who is also the CEO of the electric and self-driving car company, Telsa, has also said on Twitter that ‘if there is a shortage’ he would step in to make ventilators so patients in intensive care can breath as their bodies battle against the illness.

‘We will make ventilators if there is a shortage,’ Musk tweeted in response to a fan’s suggestion the billionaire should repurpose his factory for the task.

As noted by CNBC, SpaceX employees who are able to go to work have continued to do so as the company is exempted from a shutdown for being an ‘essential’ business. 

The company recently sent home a dozen employees after two were diagnosed with novel coronavirus, COVID-19. 

Shortages of masks, disinfectants, and ventilators have plagued states across the US as the numbers of people infected by novel coronavirus continue to climb.

As of Thursday, the US approached 70,000 confirmed cases with 1,035 total deaths.

STATE-WIDE CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWNS

In the most extreme measures to date, 17 states have ordered 100 percent of non-essential workforces to stay home to help curb the spread of COVID-19.  

CALIFORNIA

Locked down: 39.5 million 

Deaths:  35

CONNECTICUT 

Locked down: 3.5 million 

Deaths: 10

DELAWARE

Locked down: 967,000

Deaths: 0 

HAWAII

Locked down: 1.42 million

Deaths: 0

ILLINOIS 

Locked down: 12.74  million 

Deaths: 12

INDIANA 

Locked down: 6.7 million 

Deaths: 7

LOUISIANA

Locked down: 4.66 million

Deaths: 35 

MASSACHUSETTS

Locked down: 6.9 million locked down

Deaths: 9

MICHIGAN

Locked down: 10 million

Deaths: 15

NEVADA

Locked down: 3.03 million

Deaths: 4

NEW JERSEY 

Locked down: 8.9 million 

Deaths: 27

NEW YORK

Locked down: 19.54 million 

Deaths: 183 

OHIO

Locked down: 11.6 million

Deaths: 6 

OREGON

Locked down: 4.19 million 

Deaths: 5

PENNSYLVANIA

Locked down: 12.81 million 

Deaths: 6

WASHINGTON

Locked down: 7.5 million

Deaths: 111

WEST VIRGINIA 

Locked down: 1.8 million 

Deaths: 0



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