South African engineers and doctors are designing makeshift, inexpensive devices to address a major challenge posed by the coronavirus – the lack of ventilators for patients. South Africa is scrambling for thousands more ventilators as confirmed COVID-19 cases have increased to more than 7,200, with at least 138 deaths. The Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) is coordinating efforts to further develop open-source ventilators in response to initial reports that between 40% and 70% of South Africans could become infected with Covid-19, depending on the national response to the crisis. “The goal is not to directly produce ventilators, but rather to create an open-source design that can be leveraged by the community to support local healthcare facilities,” explains UJ’s Dr Deon Sabatta.
SOURCE: VOA | ENGINEERING NEWS
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