Nike, Toyota, GM and others race to help health workers battling COVID-19. Here’s how
As the novel coronavirus continues to spread, major brands are pivoting their factories to produce equipment to help medical workers battle the pandemic.
Here’s how companies from car manufacturers to clothing retailers are stepping up to help during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Toyota
The company announced Friday that Toyota North America would produce 3D-printed face shields starting this week, according to a news release.
The first batch is slated to go to MD Anderson in Houston and UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas along with hospitals in Indiana, Kentucky and Michigan, the company said.
Additionally, Toyota said it is ready to begin producing masks and is currently looking for partners to make filters, according to the release.
The company is also “finalizing agreements” with two companies that make ventilators to help them increase their capacity, the release said.
General Motors
The car company is partnering with Ventec Life Systems which will make critical care ventilators at GM’s factory in Kokomo, Ind., the company said in a news release.
The FDA-approved ventilators are expected to ship as early as next month, GM said.
The company will also use its Warren, Mich., factory to produce FDA-cleared Level 1 surgical masks, according to the release. Production is set to begin next week, and the company expects to reach a production capacity of 50,000 masks a day in roughly two weeks. GM said it has the potential to produce 100,000 daily.
Ford
The car manufacturer has partnered with GE Healthcare to help produce a “simplified” design of its ventilator, the company said in a news release.
Ford has also developed and is testing full-face shields for healthcare workers and others on the coronavirus frontline, the company said.
The shields “fully block the face and eyes from accidental contact with liquids and when paired with N95 respirators can be a more effective way to limit potential exposure to coronavirus than N95 respirators alone,” according to the release.
Nike
During a conference call last week, CEO John Donahoe said the sportswear retailer is making prototypes for personal protective equipment (PPE) including face shields, Business Insider reported.
Nike plans to send the equipment to Oregon Health and Science University to start in an effort to support healthcare workers in Oregon, according to the outlet.
Under Armour
The Baltimore-based sportswear company is partnering with the University of Maryland to produce, gowns, face masks and shields, Yahoo Finance reported.
The company said it plans to produce more than 500,000 masks, 1,000 face shields and thousands of gowns, according to the outlet.
Fanatics
Fanatics, which makes jerseys for Major League Baseball, stopped production at its Pennsylvania facility on Thursday to start producing masks and gowns, executive director Michael Rubin wrote on Twitter.
Rubin said the plan is to make 1 million masks and gowns to distribute to healthcare workers across Pennsylvania, according to his Tweet. He wrote that he also hopes to extend distribution to New Jersey and New York.
The masks and gowns are made of the same material as Fanatics jerseys, and some sport unique characteristics such as pinstripes.
Dyson
Founder James Dyson wrote a letter to employees at the company — perhaps best known for its vacuum sweepers — that he had designed and built a new ventilator in 10 days, CNN reported.
The United Kingdom government ordered 10,000 of these ventilators and Dyson said he would donate 5,000 internationally, according to the outlet.
The ventilators are expected to be ready by early April, CNN reported.
This story was originally published March 30, 2020 at 1:11 PM with the headline "Nike, Toyota, GM and others race to help health workers battling COVID-19. Here’s how."