The open source community is now up to 8.7 million units of medical supplies shipped all over the world!
Last week, we saw our second major drop in global production, so we decided to host a poll to figure out why. Of the people who reported a drop in production, 52% report that it’s because local demand they can see has dropped, 21% report that it’s because they’ve run out of resources (money or otherwise), and 13% report it’s because they have to go back to work or focus on other things. Collectively, those represent 86% of the self-reported reasons why productivity dropped. Only 4% of makers have stood down because their communities are recovering from the pandemic.
Unfortunately, on the flip side, we continue to see hospital systems and communities remain under-supplied. A study released two days ago by the American Academy of Physician’s Assistants found that 39% of physicians assistants who’ve treated COVID19-positive patients in the U.S. have done so without PPE.
As a result of this community survey and the information we’re getting from hospitals, we believe that there is a disconnect between local fabrication capacity and demand from hospitals and local communities that need supplies. We are taking this feedback seriously and are working on ways of bridging that gap, and will have more information soon!
Thank you once again for everything you’re doing! We’ll have more information for you soon!