Hospitals in various US states and countries are nearly overwhelmed and unable to provide healthcare staff with basic resources and tech companies are pitching in to tackle the shortage.
Apple Inc is donating 10 million face masks to help counter the ongoing U.S. coronavirus pandemic, chief executive officer Tim Cook said on Wednesday in a video posted to Twitter.
At a Tuesday press conference on the novel coronavirus, United States Vice President Mike Spence verified this and said the tech company is donating 10 million N95 Respiratory Protective Masks.
This goes along with other donations, including $15 million in grants and a plan that allows Apple Card owners to miss without interest their March payments.
"These people deserve our debt of appreciation for all the efforts that they are doing at the front lines," Cook said in his video about the medical community.
Cook also encouraged the general public, along with the announcement on Apple's involvement, to heed the advice of health professionals and stay at home as much as possible. The Apple chief executive has said he is operating from home at the moment.
Earlier this month, Apple shut all of its brick-and-mortar stores outside of China and Taiwan amid the pandemic worries and public space constraints. It has also set a two-device buying cap on most of its products, as the business faces challenges of supply chains and demand.
Apple definitely is not alone in supporting the battle against COVID-19, including direct donations of equipment. Alibaba and its founder Jack Ma have been ramping up their own measures in donating masks, test kits, safety suits and face shields while Tesla top executive Elon Musk agreed to make their own respirators.
Doctors in at least two medical facilities in New York City, which has become a hotspot for the virus infections, were advised to reuse their masks to protect their stock, Jacob Shamsian, a business insider, reported earlier in March. In Los Angeles, other physicians turn to seamstresses for new masks in the city's fashion district.
Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Facebook, has recently disclosed the company would donate the 720,000 masks it had bought as a security measure against wildfires in California, and expects to supply millions more.
Cook urged viewers, along with the announcement, to stay home whenever possible, and to seriously practice social distancing while out and about. He also praised many employees, from health-care personnel to warehouse staff for doing their part in combatting the pandemic.
