Faced with the coronavirus, all companies are getting into battle. Apple has designed masks for hospital staff, covering the entire face, and will be able to produce one million a week from the weekend, group chief executive Tim Cook announced on Twitter on Sunday. The boss of Apple explains that these masks, made of transparent plastic and which cover the entire face, were developed by "product designers, engineering and packaging teams, and (suppliers)" of the group.
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First in the United States
The production rate will be one million per week from the weekend. These masks will initially be intended for the United States. They will be produced there, as well as in China. In this message posted on Twitter, Tim Cook also said that Apple has been able to obtain 20 million surgical masks from its suppliers around the world.
Apple is not the only company in the world to produce masks
The computer and telephone manufacturer thus joins the cohort of companies that have modified their production lines to respond to the shortage of masks, such as the flagship of Italian luxury Prada and Lamborghini.
Also in Italy, Giorgio Armani now produces protective suits, and, in Spain, Renault engineers designed visors and masks which were then manufactured on the 3D printers available in immobilized factories. As for the American automaker General Motors (GM), President Donald Trump has ordered him to produce artificial respirators.
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Apple is dedicated to supporting the worldwide response to COVID-19. We've now sourced over 20M masks through our supply chain. Our design, engineering, operations and packaging teams are also working with suppliers to design, produce and ship face shields for medical workers. pic.twitter.com/3xRqNgMThX
- Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 5, 2020