Elon Musk announced on Twitter last night, after tweeting that he still thinks that the “danger of panic still far exceeds danger of corona,” that he’s ready to have SpaceX and Tesla to start manufacturing ventilators if needed:

That said, danger of panic still far exceeds danger of corona imo. If we over-allocate medical resources to corona, it will come at expense of treating other illnesses. Track graph at bottom of this page: https://t.co/7nWKjiZyFn — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 17, 2020

Please repurpose your factory to make ventilators which are needed ASAP. I am a Tesla owner and love the company. You have to stop being an idiot about this. This is a massive disaster. Ask the doctors in the field. — Raja ‘Elon is not an idiot’ Abbas (@suhaylabbas) March 19, 2020

We will make ventilators if there is a shortage — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 19, 2020

But he doesn’t think there’s a shortage of ventilators right now:

There's a shortage now, how many ventilators you making @elonmusk? https://t.co/hsaP9RMDZK — Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) March 19, 2020

Tesla makes cars with sophisticated hvac systems. SpaceX makes spacecraft with life support systems. Ventilators are not difficult, but cannot be produced instantly. Which hospitals have these shortages you speak of right now? — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 19, 2020

FWIW, officials are reporting a need for more ventilators in anticipation of a surge of cases:

NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo says state has 5,000-6,000 ventilators, but needs about 30,000. "This is a nationwide problem…Every state is shopping for ventilators." "It's an issue that the federal government can actually play a very productive role" in. https://t.co/nSbrvaBS8r pic.twitter.com/XUuw2KQEQC — ABC News (@ABC) March 19, 2020

And we wonder how long it would take for him to start making them if and when he gives the go order:

Elon: please ask your production designers to describe likely lead time to convert & spin up part of the factory to ventilators, versus when they'll likely be needed. 200K ventilators in U.S. now; current production capacity 50,000/yr. Est that several 100 thousand add'l needed https://t.co/upAFAmMmHH — Brandon Smith (@muckrakery) March 19, 2020

It really is “peak Twitter” that people are dunking on him over this:

I think Elon Musk volunteering to make ventilators in a shortage and then people piling on that he should be doing this already might, in fact, be peak Twitter. https://t.co/kOwQqzvoIQ — Sean T at RCP (@SeanTrende) March 19, 2020

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