Today's Topline - 3/31/20
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Source: MedTech Association
Tuesday morning brings with it news that Coronavirus deaths continue to grow at an unprecedented rate. US deaths have reached 3,000 and are poised to exceed China’s toll by the end of the day. The White House has predicted that even if all social distancing guidelines are followed, the nation will likely see total deaths between 100,000 and 200,000. In New York, more than 250 patients died between Sunday and Monday, and Governor Cuomo said that the number could soon reach 800 a day.
And, so, the fight continues…
Over the weekend, MedTech joined organizations representing America’s startup community and called on the Trump Administration to clarify as quickly as possible that small businesses with equity investors will not be excluded from the 7(a) loan program under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. In 2019 alone, 2.27 million jobs were created in the U.S. by startups. 98 percent of firms have fewer than 100 employees and between small and medium sized companies, they jointly employ 55 percent of employees. It is imperative that when implementing the CARES Act, we do not arbitrarily exclude our most innovative startups.
In exciting news, MedTech member, Medtronic, a global leader in medical technology, announced that it is publicly sharing its ventilation design specifications to accelerate efforts to increase global ventilator production. Medtronic’s ventilator, the PB 560, is sold in 35 countries around the world and has the ability to be used in a range of care settings, making it a ventilation solution for manufacturers, inventors, startups, and academic institutions seeking to quickly ramp up ventilator design and production. PB 560 product and service manuals, design requirement documents, manufacturing documents, and schematics are now available at Medtronic.com/openventilator. The PB 560 design specifications are available today, software code and other information will follow shortly.
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