Apple CEO Tim Cook announced via Twitter today that the company has sourced and will be donating 10 million N95 face masks for the U.S. and millions more for Europe as the world battles the COVID-19 pandemic.
That’s a million mask increase in the U.S. just a day after Vice President Mike Pence announced at the White House Coronavirus Task Force press conference that Apple would donate over the nine million N95 masks. The number is significant increase over the two million masks Apple was last week reported to donate.
N95 mask are named thusly: “N” for Not resistant to oil. Used when oil particulates are not present. And “95” for the Minimum Efficiency Level of 95%. More info here.
“I’m very pleased to tell you… that Apple has sourced, procured and is donating 10 million masks to the medical community in the United States,” Cook says in the video posted to Twitter. “These people deserve our debt of gratitude for all of the work they’re doing on the front lines.”
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
After announcing Apple’s donation of 10+ million face masks, Cook concluded, “It’s in these toughest times that we show our greatest strength and I know that we’ll rise to the occasion. Thank you and stay save and healthy out there.”
MacDailyNews Take: No, thank you!
MacDailyNews Note: More info on the Prevention & Treatment of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) via the U.S. CDC is here. Track the Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) here.
I am so proud of Apple for rising to the occasion for feeling the gaps by addressing the urgent need of our healthcare professionals in this tough time. Thank you, Apple. I am proud of being an Apple user and investor.
The issue in not that Apple stepped up to help, thank you Tim.
The issue is they are now 1 more party bidding on a scarce resource (would be different if they were manufacturing the masks), so all this does is help drive prices higher.
Pretty sure these masks are used in plants with cleanrooms that manufacture Apple products. Wonder if Apple ‘borrowed’ them from there, to be replaced later when the demand is less and output more stable.