Governments intensify search for ventilators

Governments across Europe have intensified their search for ventilators as doctors and hospitals prepare for a continuing surge in patients infected with the Covid-19 virus.

Ventilators are machines designed to put oxygen into the lungs of patients with acute respiratory difficulties. They are of critical importance for those in danger of lung failure, a typical cause of death for patients infected with the coronavirus.

Financial Times reports that Italy, the country at the epicentre of the European outbreak, told the country’s only ventilator manufacturer to quadruple monthly production, even deploying members of the armed forces to help meet the new quota. Germany has ordered an additional 10,000 ventilators from a domestic supplier and France is conducting a study into its own stocks including outside the public health system to determine the adequate level or needs to order further supplies.

In the UK, the Health Secretary also called on manufacturers to help build more ventilators which he said were “critical” in the battle to help those who are ill.

Via Financial Times  / Euronews / Sky News