700-Odd Negative Pressure Ambulances Ride to the Rescue in Virus-Hit Hubei, MIIT Says
Liao Shumin
DATE:  Mar 05 2020
/ SOURCE:  yicai
700-Odd Negative Pressure Ambulances Ride to the Rescue in Virus-Hit Hubei, MIIT Says 700-Odd Negative Pressure Ambulances Ride to the Rescue in Virus-Hit Hubei, MIIT Says

(Yicai Global) March 5 -- Almost 700 negative pressure ambulances of the king-size N95-type have been delivered to Hubei province in Central China since the novel coronavirus pneumonia broke out there in December, where it has raged ever since, the Beijing News reported, citing the country's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The biggest difference between negative pressure ambulances and run-of-the-mill ones is the first have lower pressure inside the patient compartment than the external atmosphere, which allows containment and venting of filtered and disinfected air within the ambulance to the outside while admitting fresh air in.

Key car makers in Shanghai and in east-central Anhui and Henan provinces received orders for 200 of the emergency conveyances from the MIIT on Jan. 25, the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year, and the second batch of orders for 345 vehicles on Feb. 6. China only turned out about 50 such ambulances a year prior to this.

The MIIT put 10 key automakers and two negative pressure equipment makers on the list of manufacturers of key materials for anti-epidemic prevention and control and issued polices on coordinating technology transformation and loans with discounted interest to help these companies swiftly ramp up production.

China's major producers have succeeded in shortening the production cycle for negative pressure ambulances to 15 days from 30, while greatly improving their carrying capacity. Domestic output of the vehicles is over 100 units a day now on average, and major producers have thus far delivered nearly 2,000 nationwide in response to the Covid-19 health crisis.

Editor: Ben Armour

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Keywords:   Negative Pressure Isolation Ambulance,Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia