Coronavirus pandemic prompts New York assemblyman to ask Elon Musk to make ventilators in state
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After Tesla CEO Elon Musk made good on his promise to deliver ventilators to California to aid with the coronavirus pandemic, New York is now asking the tech titan to pitch in.
New York Assemblyman Sean Ryan wrote a letter to Musk on Tuesday, pleading with him to build ventilators in the company's Buffalo, N.Y., factory, according to Buffalo News, which first reported the story.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"New York State is the most impacted state in the nation," Ryan wrote, according to the news outlet. "It makes sense that increased ventilator production would happen here to ensure we can meet the growing demand of our health care system."
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The factory, which is subsidized by the state of New York and is temporarily closed amid the pandemic, is used to make solar panels.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News has reached out to Tesla with a request for comment.
New York is the most impacted state in the U.S., as 26,376 people have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Wednesday morning, an increase of 13.5 percent from Tuesday.
In a Tuesday press conference, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the state needs at least 30,000 ventilators over the next two weeks.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}On Wednesday morning, President Trump tweeted that he had sent 4,000 ventilators to the state of New York, though it's unclear where the ventilators came from.
The U.S. does have a national stockpile of medical equipment, known as the Strategic National Stockpile, in case of medical emergencies.
Earlier this week, Musk delivered 1,255 ventilators to California after buying a surplus of the expensive medical equipment used to help people breathe from China.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The 48-year-old Musk also recently said his companies would help make ventilators "if there is a shortage."
On March 19, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted to Musk that the city needs ventilators "ASAP" and asked Musk for help.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}As of Wednesday morning, there have been more than 428,000 reported cases of COVID-19, including at least 55,000 in the U.S.