Published 21:45 IST, March 27th 2020
Trump orders General Motors to 'start production now' as US govt stalls ventilator deal
After the White House temperorily stalled a deal with General Motors to manufacture 80,000 ventilators, President Donald Trump on Friday, lashed out at it
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After the White House temperorily stalled a deal with General Motors to manufacture 80,000 ventilators, President Donald Trump on Friday, lashed out at the American automobile company, tweeting 'START MAKING VENTILATORS, NOW!!!!!!'. He alleged that a deal with General Motors never seems to work out as they were claiming that they could only produce 6000 ventilators by April. He added that the automobile giant must open its 'abandoned' plant in Ohio which was shut to focus on electric and driverless vehicles to 'produce ventilators now', asking Ford also to do the same.
Trump to General Motors : 'START MAKING VENTILATORS, NOW!!!!!!'
As usual with “this” General Motors, things just never seem to work out. They said they were going to give us 40,000 much needed Ventilators, “very quickly”. Now they are saying it will only be 6000, in late April, and they want top dollar. Always a mess with Mary B. Invoke “P”.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 27, 2020
General Motors MUST immediately open their stupidly abandoned Lordstown plant in Ohio, or some other plant, and START MAKING VENTILATORS, NOW!!!!!! FORD, GET GOING ON VENTILATORS, FAST!!!!!! @GeneralMotors @Ford
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 27, 2020
US govt pulls out of ventilator deal
According to US news reports, the White House was all set to announce a joint venture between General Motors and Ventec Life Systems to allow the production of 80,000 ventilators amid the Coronavirus pandemic. Officials reportedly said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had asked for more time as the estimated cost was more than $1 billion. Reports state that while the deal had been struck for an initial order of 20,000 ventilators, General Motors has estimated the delivery of fewer than 7500 ventilators, which is not sufficient for New York alone.
Ventilators insufficiency in NY
The USA which has overtaken China in the number of positive cases has emerged as the epicenter of the pandemic with 92,206 cases and 1371 deaths. New York which has witnessed the highest number of cases has been grappling with insufficiency of ventilators. Governor Andrew Cuomo had publically appealed the US government to provide 30,000-40,000 ventilators, which was rubbished by Trump saying "You go into major hospitals sometimes, and they’ll have two ventilators. And now all of a sudden they’re saying, ‘Can we order 30,000 ventilators?’”. Trump has often downplayed Coronavirus's effects - terming it a 'Chinese virus'.
21:44 IST, March 27th 2020