Zimbabwean businessman and one of Africa’s richest men Strive Masiyiwa has pledged to purchase and donate 1,000 COVID-19 ventilators to hospitals across Africa, OYOGist.com has gathered.
The billionaire showed off the low-cost ventilator design that was designed by Richard Branson’s space company Virgin Galactic in a facebook post.
The new COVID-19 ventilator is called Breathing Helmet or Oxygen Helmet and is designed to mimic the space helmet astronauts wear in space.
According to Masiyiwa, the Breathing Helmet will pass oxygen to the lungs of patients that have been infected with the virus and keep them breathing, while also protecting health workers from being exposed to the virus when the patient breathes, coughs or sneezes.
Each unit of the Oxygen Helmet costs $175. A regular COVID-19 ventilator costs $10,000 to $15,000.
“Each unit costs only $175 (including valves, hose and filters) and I have ordered 1,000 to distribute for free donations across Africa, in addition to the 1,000 ventilators we donated that I have told you about before,” Strive said on Facebook.
Read the full post shared by the billionaire on Facebook talking about the Breathing Helmet below.
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God bless you sir. You are doing well.