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 Britain has taken a distinctly different approach to tackling
coronavirus from European countries such as Italy, Spain and France
which have imposed stringent lockdowns to try to slow the spread of
the disease.
"The prime minister will speak to British manufacturers including
Unipart Group to ask them to support production of essential medical
equipment for the NHS," a Downing Street spokesman said.
"He will stress the vital role of Britain’s manufacturers in
preparing the country for a significant spread of coronavirus and
call on them to step up and support the nationwide effort to fight
the virus."
Ventilators are used to keep people with coronavirus alive if they
have lung complications after acquiring the virus.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said there had been an enthusiastic
response to the prime minister's call for ventilator production.
"We've got high quality engineering in this country and we want
anybody who has the manufacturing capability to turn to a
manufacturer of ventilators to do that," Hancock said.
It was, though, not immediately clear how a manufacturer of jet
engines or cars could turn to producing specialist medical
equipment, what international parts would be needed or what
certification would be required.
Unipart Group declined further comment. Johnson is due to give a
news conference later on Monday and will also hold a call with major
companies.
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Rolls Royce, a British engineering company that makes the jet engines for the
biggest Boeing and Airbus planes, said it was ready to help in any way it could.
"We understand that the government is exploring ways in which businesses can
help deal with the outbreak of COVID-19," a spokesman said. "We are keen to do
whatever we can to help the government and the country at this time and will
look to provide any practical help we can."
As the United Kingdom scrambled to prepare the National Health Service, which
opened after World War Two in 1948, for a steep increase in cases, the
government was even looking at using hotels to back up hospitals.
"We’ve seen that ... many hotels are empty, so we’ve got ready built facilities
for looking after people, but the critical thing is that they need oxygen supply
and the ventilation equipment," Hancock said on Sunday.
British cases of coronavirus rose 20% to 1,372 on Sunday. The number of deaths
in Britain increased to 35.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Kate Holton; editing by Michael Holden)
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