A little good news about masks and ventilators:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3M, Medtronic ramping up production of equipment, materials to fight COVID-19

The medical device maker says it has increased ventilator production by more than 40 percent so far and is on track to more than double its ventilator manufacturing capacity. High-performance ventilators are critical in the care of patients with severe respiratory illnesses, such as COVID-19, that impair breathing.

Meanwhile, 3M has doubled its worldwide production of N95 respirators to nearly 100 million a month. The company hopes to further boost manufacture of the protective masks by over 30 percent over the next year. 3M is also maximizing production of a wide range of other products, including hand sanitizers, disinfectants and filtration products.

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2020/03/21/latest-on-covid19-in-minnesota-state-officials-report-first-death-linked-to-covid19?fbclid=IwAR0x_b9aG0prwhL2oSYRVgytxnVBoHoQF5Qfat9LBkb5bgdUkurOG0tiHmM#developments

[sl8]

1. K&R n/t

[Igel]

2. May I suggest that we don't necessarily care about "over the next year."

And this is a PR paragraph saying little more than "please feel good about us".

The medical device maker says it has increased ventilator production by more than 40 percent so far and is on track to more than double its ventilator manufacturing capacity. High-performance ventilators are critical in the care of patients with severe respiratory illnesses, such as COVID-19, that impair breathing.

What's needed to feel better is the number produced, not just percentage increase. Do they make 10 or 100,000?

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/health-pharma/medtronic-to-double-number-of-staff-making-ventilators-in-ireland-1.4207316


https://fortune.com/2020/03/17/coronavirus-ventilator-shortage/

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/coronavirus-hse-and-ida-in-talks-with-ventilator-manufacturers-988985.html

Around half of the ventilators manufactured in the world are made in Ireland, mainly by Medtronic, according to IDA Ireland.

Note that if Ireland (or Germany, or Sweden) has something like the Defense Production Act and acts locally this would radically affect supply chains. If ventilators aren't made in the US, it would require setting up the production lines. If we need to get them from Ireland and Ireland says "we're first" that would go poorly.