Trump orders General Motors to 'start production now' as US govt stalls ventilator deal

After the White House temperorily stalled a deal with General Motors to manufacture 80,000 ventilators, President Donald Trump on Friday, lashed out at the American automobile company, tweeting 'START MAKING VENTILATORS, NOW!!!!!!'. He alleged that a deal with General Motors never seems to work out as they were claiming that they could only produce 6000 ventilators by April. He added that the automobile giant must open its 'abandoned' plant in Ohio which was shut to focus on electric and driverless vehicles to 'produce ventilators now', asking Ford also to do the same.

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Trump to General Motors : 'START MAKING VENTILATORS, NOW!!!!!!'

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US govt pulls out of ventilator deal

According to US news reports, the White House was all set to announce a joint venture between General Motors and Ventec Life Systems to allow the production of 80,000 ventilators amid the Coronavirus pandemic. Officials reportedly said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had asked for more time as the estimated cost was more than $1 billion. Reports state that while the deal had been struck for an initial order of 20,000 ventilators, General Motors has estimated the delivery of fewer than 7500 ventilators, which is not sufficient for New York alone.

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Ventilators insufficiency in NY

The USA which has overtaken China in the number of positive cases has emerged as the epicenter of the pandemic with 92,206 cases and 1371 deaths. New York which has witnessed the highest number of cases has been grappling with insufficiency of ventilators. Governor Andrew Cuomo had publically appealed the US government to provide 30,000-40,000 ventilators, which was rubbished by Trump saying "You go into major hospitals sometimes, and they’ll have two ventilators. And now all of a sudden they’re saying, ‘Can we order 30,000 ventilators?’”. Trump has often downplayed Coronavirus's effects - terming it a 'Chinese virus'.