After promising to deliver ventilators to hospitals treating Chinese virus patients in Los Angles, Elon Musk has reportedly delivered a number of CPAP machines that are not recommended for the treatment for coronavirus, which can “pump viruses into the air” according to experts.
Breitbart News recently reported that Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk stated that he shipped 1,225 ventilators from China to Los Angeles as medical facilities across the United States face shortages due to the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic. In a press conference last week, California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) stated that Musk has delivered 1,000 ventilators to help California hospitals dealing with the Pandemic. “I told you a few days ago that [Musk] was likely to have 1,000 ventilators this week,” Newsom said. “They’ve arrived in Los Angeles… It was a heroic effort.”
Now it seems that the ventilators that Musk delivered were not actually medical-grade ventilators, but rather CPAP machines that are not recommended for the treatment of the Chinese virus, according to reports.
LA Times reporter Russ Mitchell discussed the issue in a Twitter thread in which he claimed that many physicians were unwilling to discuss the topic with him due to fear of antagonizing Musk:
Mitchell further added that although CPAP machines are sometimes referred to as “ventilators” they are not the type of ventilator that medical professionals currently need to treat coronavirus patients. Mitchell stated that Musk has publicly stated that he’s been talking with device maker Medtronic about building ventilators but so far no deal has been made public:
Mitchell clarified that referring to the ventilators as “five years old” was a reference to the model of CPAP machine, the machines that Musk delivered were new:
CPAP machines are reportedly not recommended for the treatment of Wuhan coronavirus patients as without a proper filtration system, CPAP machines can actually increase the spread of infectious disease by aerosolizing the virus. NPR detailed this in a recent article, writing:
The American Society of Anesthesiologists issued guidance on Feb. 23 discouraging CPAP use in COVID-19 patients — advice largely informed by experience with the SARS epidemic in 2003. Studies dating to 2003 suggest that such devices can pump viruses into the air, potentially increasing the spread of a contagious disease.
During the SARS outbreak in Toronto, half of all SARS cases, including three deaths, occurred among health care workers. Some of the greatest risk arose when doctors and nurses were exposed to aerosolized virus through the use of positive airway pressure machines or other respiratory therapy devices.
The experiences from the Life Care Center of Kirkland now have doctors rethinking their strategies when faced with ventilator shortages, and their advice to first responders about using CPAP machines in the field.
“In general, we’re just telling them not to use it,” said Dr. Comilla Sasson, an associate clinical professor of emergency medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. “Because we are concerned about community spread, and we have to assume that anybody with respiratory distress is a COVID patient.”
And doctors even suggest that those who use the devices at home should take precautions to prevent infecting others.
Musk recently tweeted that he had extra “FDA-approved ventilators” that he was willing to ship to hospitals worldwide if needed, its unclear if these devices are fully working ventilators or rather CPAP machines that will need modification in order to treat coronavirus patients.
Breitbart News will continue to report on this story.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com
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