Ukraine asks Tesla chief for ventilators to fight coronavirus
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Ukraine had reported 804 coronavirus cases and 20 related deaths as of Thursday morning.
Ukraine has asked Tesla Inc Chief Elon Musk to send them ventilators after he offered to ship them across the world in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Governments across the world have been scrambling to procure enough ventilators as patients with respiratory conditions linked to the coronavirus pandemic overwhelm hospitals. To this end, Musk had said he was ready to send the life-saving machines wherever his company delivers, free of cost.
Kiev's embassy in Washington took to Twitter on Wednesday to place its appeal: "Dear Elon, Ukraine is the second largest country in Europe with population nearly 40 mln citizens."
Ukraine had reported 804 coronavirus cases and 20 related deaths as of Thursday morning.
"The pandemic situation in Ukraine is approaching its peak, April is going to be the hardest. People in hospitals need ventilators. We are ready to cooperate! Dyakuyemo! (Thank you!)" Former health minister Ulana Suprun tweeted a separate appeal to the entrepreneur.
"Ukraine is in dire need of ventilators."
There was no immediate response from Musk or Tesla.
Ukraine is one of Europe's poorest countries and its healthcare spending is a fraction of its Western peers.
Elon Musk tweeted on Tuesday that he was ready to "ship to hospitals worldwide within Tesla delivery regions."
Device and shipping costs were free. "Only requirement is that the vents are needed immediately for patients, not stored in a warehouse," he added.
A week earlier he said Tesla had bought ventilators from China for US hospitals and that a Tesla factory in New York would also start manufacturing them.