FRANKFURT, March 13 (Reuters) - German medical gear maker Draegerwerk said on Friday that the German government was buying 10,000 ventilators for respiratory care and that the company would fill the order over the course of the year.

In addition, the group will deliver personal protection equipment for hospital staff to the German government, it added.

"Both will help to assure the functionality of the health care system in the case of a further spreading of the Corona virus," it said in a statement.

The order will require a substantial increase of production capacity in the northern city of Luebeck and will have an as-yet unspecified positive effect on earnings. (Reporting by Ludwig Burger; editing by Thomas Seythal)