BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced on Twitter Wednesday that Giga New York, the Tesla facility in Buffalo, would reopen "as soon as humanly possible" for ventilator production.
Giga New York will reopen for ventilator production as soon as humanly possible. We will do anything in our power to help the citizens of New York.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 25, 2020
Tesla announced it was suspending production operations at the Gigafactory in Buffalo due to concerns about COVID-19 on March 20th.
New York State Assemblyman Sean Ryan sent a letter to Musk Tuesday requesting ventilator production at the Gigafactory.
Ryan released this statement following Musk's announcement:
“I want to thank Elon Musk and everyone at Tesla for responding so quickly to my call to begin making ventilators at the Tesla factory in Buffalo. This is a critical moment for our state and our country. We are all practicing social distancing to help reduce the spread of COVID-19, and at the same time, we recognize the importance of preparing our healthcare system for what’s next. Ventilators are essential to our response and as Governor Cuomo has noted, the state needs at least 30,000 to meet the growing need. I look forward to working with Tesla and New York State as ventilator production begins to ramp up in Buffalo. My thanks to workers everywhere who are still on the job working tirelessly to keep our economy going, and my thoughts are with everyone directly and indirectly impacted by the pandemic. Rest assured that your state government will continue fighting for resources and working to keep everyone safe. I encourage all New Yorkers to continue to stay home to help stop the spread.”
