the medical equipment shortages in the
United States, with potentially life-saving N95
masks pulled from the company’s stockpiles
following the recent wildfires in California.
The announcement followed dozens of reports
from nurses and medical personnel in the
United States pleading for personal protective
equipment, something governments and
nurses around the world are struggling to come
by following significantly increased demand.
Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg has already
donated 720,000 masks to healthcare workers,
whilst Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has
donated more than 250,000 masks. Combined,
more than 18 million masks have been pulled
from reserves from tech stockpiles, and
Facebook says it is committed to sourcing and
funding more of them.
Companies have also been getting out their
checkbooks with Facebook offering $100
million in advertising grants to small
businesses during these unprecedented
times, whilst Amazon has committed to hiring
another 100,000 people in the United States
to cope with increased demand for its services
as more and more consumers go into isolation
and avoid crowded spaces like supermarkets
and drugstores ahead of an expected enforced
lockdown soon.