Coronavirus: Much-needed ventilators arrive at Shropshire MoD base
New ventilators have arrived at a military base in Shropshire ready to be sent out to hospitals this week.
Cabinet Minister Michael Gove revealed the much-needed ventilators had been sent to the Ministry of Defence's base in Donnington, near Telford.
He also thanked GKN Aerospace, which has a base in Telford, for being part of an industry consortium producing the ventilators.
"The first devices from Smiths group have also been received at MoD Donnington, a military logistics hub in Shropshire," Mr Gove said during Saturday's briefing.
"These have been approved by the regulator.
"The initial dispatch is the result of scaled-up manufacturing of an existing mechanical ventilator design and I'm grateful for the efforts of an industry consortium, including GKN Aerospace and Rolls Royce.
"These ventilators will be distributed to hospitals this week."
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Production of a separate device made by different companies will start at a factory in Scotland this week, Mr Gove added.
Earlier this week, the Government announced that 30 new ventilators would be supplied to hospitals next week, although it is thought the NHS needs at least 30,000 devices to cope with peak demand.
It already has slightly more than 8,000 in hospitals, with another 8,000 ordered.
Three hundred new ventilators have already arrived from China, Mr Gove confirmed today as he thanked the Chinese Government for its help.
The minister also revealed that the hospital admissions rate in the Midlands is up by 47 per cent and that the NHS and the military are accelerating their work to transform the NEC it into a Nightingale Hospital due to the severity of the pandemic in the Midlands.
Far more new coronavirus deaths were confirmed in the Midlands than London today as the UK death toll passed 4,000.
Of 637 more patients confirmed to have died in England this afternoon, 212 died in the Midlands, although no new deaths were confirmed at hospitals in Shropshire.
So far 22 people have died after testing positive for Covid-19 in Shropshire - far fewer than the figures seen at neighbouring health trusts in the Black Country and Birmingham where 470 people have now died.
