Tim Cook says Apple has donated more than 10 million masks to fight COVID-19

Posted:
in General Discussion edited March 2020
Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed that Apple has sourced and is donating 10 million masks for the U.S., and is promising "millions more" for European regions hit hard by COVID-19.

Apple CEO Tim Cook, who is currently working from home, said that Apple is donating 10 million masks in the U.S. and will donate
Apple CEO Tim Cook, who is currently working from home, said that Apple is donating 10 million masks in the U.S. and will donate "millions more" to European regions.


The announcement comes a day after U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said that Apple was making a donation of 9 million N95 masks.

In a video posted to Twitter Wednesday, Cook clarified that Apple has, in fact, been able to secure 10 million masks for the U.S. He added that Apple's operations teams are coordinating with world governments to find and purchase masks from the company's supply chain.

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)


Cook in a tweet Saturday said Apple was donating "millions" of masks to health professionals on the frontlines of the coronavirus outbreak.

In 2019, after a particularly bad wildfire season, the state of California began requiring companies to provide N95 masks to workers when air quality is poor. Because of that, most major tech firms in California began stockpiling N95 or similar masks in storage.

It isn't clear whether Apple actually had 9 million masks in its stockpile, though the number seems high when compared to Facebook's donation of 750,000 masks from its own emergency reserve, as CNBC reported. More likely is that Apple added its emergency stockpile to additional masks sourced from its supply chain.

Along with the announcement, Cook encouraged viewers to stay home whenever possible and practice social distancing when out and about. He also thanked various essential workers, from those in healthcare to warehouse staffers.

Apple has previously promised to help in the global fight against COVID-19, pledging unspecified donations to "groups on the ground" in various countries as early as January. On March 14, the company had pledged $15 million to COVID-19 response efforts in the U.S. and internationally, and promised to match employee donations on a two-to-one basis.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 14
    FatmanFatman Posts: 513member
    Thank you Tim!
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 14
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    That's about as official as it gets. Looks like they aren't using their connections to source, purchase, and distribute (to some extent), and not just hoarding millions of masks it seemed to come across previously (although it wouldn't be odd if they were prepared).
    randominternetpersonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 14
    georgie01georgie01 Posts: 436member
    Awesome! It’ll work better if companies like Apple help out in these ways rather than government poking their bloated nose into it if not necessary.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 14
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,834member
    georgie01 said:
    Awesome! It’ll work better if companies like Apple help out in these ways rather than government poking their bloated nose into it if not necessary.
    What on earth are you talking about? Corporations can’t fix this problem, only the coordinated efforts of governments and medical professionals can. We absolutely need government to lead.
    Solimacseekerdewmefastasleeptmaytokyojimusingularity
  • Reply 5 of 14
    georgie01 said:
    Awesome! It’ll work better if companies like Apple help out in these ways rather than government poking their bloated nose into it if not necessary.
    What on earth are you talking about? Corporations can’t fix this problem, only the coordinated efforts of governments and medical professionals can. We absolutely need government to lead.
    I think he was saying companies know better than anyone what they have in inventory, and rather than an inspector go to every company in America (etc) it’s better if companies contribute voluntarily.

    I agree governments do need to lead.  Unfortunately, leadership has been lacking.  President Trump has at best gave mixed messages, expressing hunches rather than passing on the facts from the professionals.  The CDC was on top of expressing the severity, but they bungled the testing and preparedness.

    The CDC seems to be saying preparing for epidemics wasn’t their job.  After SARS, MERS, the Zika virus, and swine flu... I figured it was somebody’s job (CDC) but apparently not.  Not having a stockpile of the basics (masks & gloves) is criminal, especially considering the U.S no longer makes everything needed.

    It’s good that Apple is stepping up, but the fact they need to is telling...

    larryjwtmaywatto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 14
    Major kudos, Apple! And Tim Cook.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 14
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    georgie01 said:
    Awesome! It’ll work better if companies like Apple help out in these ways rather than government poking their bloated nose into it if not necessary.
    Who do you think Apple are donating the masks to?  Utter nonsense.  And I'm not sure it's necessarily a good thing for Apple and other companies to be buying up these masks and creating a market for them, rather than government getting sole purchase rights to get them where they need to go as soon as possible.
  • Reply 8 of 14
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 7,623member
    Every little helps and Apple has stated their actions will continue.

    For front line workers for immediate protection and everybody else further down the line getting equipment 'now' is the number one priority. Any company that can use its logistics infrastructure to help out is welcome.

    Spain has 500 million masks on order. Almost a thousand ventilators and other equipment. 

    Private companies are doing their thing too. Textile factories have switched to sewing gowns for hospital use etc.

    Tech companies are providing technology from their specialist fields. Cloud based AI hardware is being used to process lung scans using AI vision etc.

    Some stuff is questioned by certain groups. For example using drones to enforce curfews and check people out on the street but the situation is exceptional and that must be taken into consideration.

    To draw a positive out of the negative, things could have been far worse and we should be far better prepared for the next pandemic (and hopefully before it reaches that stage).
    edited March 2020
  • Reply 9 of 14
    crowley said:
    georgie01 said:
    Awesome! It’ll work better if companies like Apple help out in these ways rather than government poking their bloated nose into it if not necessary.
    Who do you think Apple are donating the masks to?  Utter nonsense.  And I'm not sure it's necessarily a good thing for Apple and other companies to be buying up these masks and creating a market for them, rather than government getting sole purchase rights to get them where they need to go as soon as possible.
    Your faith in a government’s ability to source from a private supply chain — compared to that of an Apple, and especially, a once-in-a-lifetime master of the supply chain like Tim Cook — is truly touching  
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 14
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    crowley said:
    georgie01 said:
    Awesome! It’ll work better if companies like Apple help out in these ways rather than government poking their bloated nose into it if not necessary.
    Who do you think Apple are donating the masks to?  Utter nonsense.  And I'm not sure it's necessarily a good thing for Apple and other companies to be buying up these masks and creating a market for them, rather than government getting sole purchase rights to get them where they need to go as soon as possible.
    Your faith in a government’s ability to source from a private supply chain — compared to that of an Apple, and especially, a once-in-a-lifetime master of the supply chain like Tim Cook — is truly touching  
    It shouldn't be.  Apple can buy from markets, governments can pass laws and organise societies.  Markets are not going to get us out the current hole.
    avon b7tokyojimu
  • Reply 11 of 14

    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)
    ...

    It isn't clear whether Apple actually had 9 million masks in its stockpile, though the number seems high when compared to Facebook's donation of 750,000 masks from its own emergency reserve, as CNBC reported. More likely is that Apple added its emergency stockpile to additional masks sourced from its supply chain.

    Respectfully, it actually very clear from Cook's statement that Apple didn't have a stockpile of 9 millions masks and that they are "helping to find and purchase masks."
    edited March 2020 SoliSpamSandwichwatto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 14
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 7,623member
    crowley said:
    georgie01 said:
    Awesome! It’ll work better if companies like Apple help out in these ways rather than government poking their bloated nose into it if not necessary.
    Who do you think Apple are donating the masks to?  Utter nonsense.  And I'm not sure it's necessarily a good thing for Apple and other companies to be buying up these masks and creating a market for them, rather than government getting sole purchase rights to get them where they need to go as soon as possible.
    Your faith in a government’s ability to source from a private supply chain — compared to that of an Apple, and especially, a once-in-a-lifetime master of the supply chain like Tim Cook — is truly touching  
    Many governments reserve the right and already have the necessary laws to force national companies to cater to government supply needs, effectively making private business 'public'. 

    That power far outstrips anything Apple can do.

    The Spanish government is on the verge of doing such a thing with regards to medicines. The first step has been to oblige its national pharmaceutical manufacturers to guarantee stocks of 103 medicines considered to be vital.
    edited March 2020
  • Reply 13 of 14
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Good on Apple and good on Tim.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 14
    My sister is a dentist. She is seeing emergency patients in order to keep them out of the hospitals. Currently she only has 1 mask to protect herself with at work. She uses this same mask over & over again. She has to sterilize this mask herself in her home oven. Because of her dental profession, she is very high risk of getting the Coronavirus. She has 2 small children. Do you have any extra masks that she can have? Sincerely, Emily
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