Apple producing face shields for health workers, aims to make 1 million weekly

Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company has begun producing face shields for health workers as hospitals have reported shortages of critical supplies during the coronavirus outbreak.

Cook said in a video posted on Twitter on Sunday that the company has enlisted its product designers, engineering, operations and packaging teams, as well as its suppliers, to “design, produce and ship face shields for health workers.”

Apple is dedicated to supporting the worldwide response to COVID-19. We’ve now sourced over 20M masks through our supply chain. Our design, engineering, operations and packaging teams are also working with suppliers to design, produce and ship face shields for medical workers. pic.twitter.com/3xRqNgMThX

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 5, 2020

Cook said in the video that the company’s first shipment of shields was sent to Kaiser hospital facilities in Santa Clara Valley, Calif., last week. The feedback the company received from health officials about the shields “was very positive,” he added.

Cook went on to hold up one of the shields in the video, which he said can be assembled in under two minutes and is “fully adjustable.”

“We’re sourcing materials and manufacturing in the U.S. and China,” he said. “We plan to ship over one million by the end of this week, and over one million per week after that.”

Cook said the company has been communicating with “medical professionals and government officials across the US to get these to where they’re needed most urgently.”

“We hope to quickly expand distribution beyond the U.S.,” he also said.

Cook added the company has been able to source over 20 million masks from its supply chain to support medical professionals working on the frontlines to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

“This is a truly global effort and we’re working continuously and closely with governments at all levels to ensure these are donated to places of greatest need,” he said.

The CEO said both efforts are just the latest examples of the unique ways Apple has been working to help meet the “essential needs of caregivers urgently and at a scale the circumstances require.” 

“For Apple, this is a labor of love and gratitude, and we will share more of our efforts over time,” he added.