Cuomo Says Tesla-Made Ventilators Will Not Be Ready In Time for COVID-19 Apex in New York

On 19 March, Tesla founder Elon Musk tweeted that his company would make ventilators if they would be needed. Later, he said that a Buffalo factory would be reopened for ventilator production.

New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo confirmed comments made by his secretary Melissa De Rossa's that the ventilators that had been promised by Elon Musk will not be delivered at the disposal of the state's authorities in time for apex in the State.

“The problem with ventilator construction is the supply chain”, Cuomo told reporters in a press briefing. “Nobody can make you a ventilator right now, in two weeks. That’s General Motors, that’s Ford, that’s Elon Musk. You can't make ventilators that fast".

At the press briefing, Cuomo's secretary De Rossa said that Tesla was talking about making a part of the ventilator, not the whole device.

"They are trying to ramp up to get up and running as soon as possible, but nothing has materialized as of yet", she said.

The governor noted that there are parts of ventilators that have to come from other countries.

“Their time-frame, frankly, doesn’t work for our immediate apex, because whether we’re talking two days or 10 days, you’re not going to make ventilators at that time”, he added.

As of Sunday, a total of 122,031 COVID-19 infections have been reported in New York state, and nearly 4,160 people have died from the disease, according to the governor.