Apple is now designing, producing and shipping face shields for medical workers across the US and plans to ship more than 1 million a week.
The tech giant’s chief executive Tim Cook revealed the latest measures Apple are taking to help combat the coronavirus in a Twitter post to his nearly 12 million followers.
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
Demonstrating the shields, which can be packed flat and assembled in under two minutes, Cook says he plans to distribute more than a million this week, and a further million every week after that.
While distribution is currently limited to the US, Apple is understood to be planning to expand elsewhere soon.
READ MORE: Apple launches free COVID-19 screening tool to “help you understand what to do next”
“Our first shipment was delivered to Kaiser hospital facilities in the Santa Clara Valley this past week, and the feedback from doctors was very positive,” Cook said.
“These pack flat, one hundred per box. Each shield is assembled in less than two minutes and is fully adjustable. We’re sourcing materials and manufacturing in the US and China.”
Alongside the shields, Apple has now sourced more than 20 million face masks via is global supply chain and is working with governments to donate them to frontline workers.
Last week, Apple launched a new COVID-19 website and app aimed at providing a screening tool for the virus and “help you understand what to do next”.
The tool was developed by Apple, the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and the US government’s coronavirus task force to provide people with official up-to-date information on the outbreak.
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