Apple (AAPL -1.22%) is donating 10 million surgical masks to healthcare workers in the U.S. fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
In a video posted to Twitter, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company has also secured millions of more masks which it is donating to the hardest hit areas of Europe.
IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.
“These people deserve our debt of gratitude for all of the work they are doing on the frontlines,” Cook said in the video from his home office. He noted Apple is working in coordination with governments around the world to secure and distribute the masks.
Proud to share we’ve been able to source 10M masks for the US and millions more for the hardest hit regions in Europe. Our ops teams are helping to find and purchase masks from our supply chain in coordination with governments around the world. pic.twitter.com/uTsA6eA5ks
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) March 25, 2020
Apple is joined by other technology giants that have pledged to donate face masks to the healthcare workers on the frontlines. On Sunday Facebook (META -4.13%) CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company is donating 720,000 masks that it had in reserves from the California wildfires. Zuckerberg said the social media giant is also working on securing millions more that it will donate.
Meanwhile, Tesla (TSLA -1.92%) CEO Elon Musk reportedly said Tesla and SpaceX had begun sending out 250,000 N95 masks. Softbank (SFTB.Y -4.66%) announced this week it is donating 1.4 million masks to New York, which has been hard hit by the pandemic.
With the number of COVID-19 cases skyrocketing in the U.S. and with supplies of surgical masks running dangerously low, healthcare workers have pleaded with the government, companies, and society to help them secure the much-needed medical supply. As it stands, some are forced to reuse or create makeshift masks.
As of Thursday, there were close to 70,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S., resulting in more than 1,000 deaths.
