Mobius Motors, the Kenyan startup founded a decade ago has presented a ventilator that can be used in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Mobius is taking proactive measures to create a safe environment for all Kenyans. For this reason we have been developing ventilators to support Kenya’s fight against Covid-19, should they be required. The ventilator prototype is ready for regulatory approval and can be productionised within 1 month for less than Kes 100,000, with a capacity of 200 ventilators per month. Mobius, Buy Kenya, Build Kenya,” they said in the Facebook post.
Ventilator demand has increased sharply in 2019 thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic due to the nature of the disease affecting the respiratory system. Some COVID-19 patients develop breathing problems and ventilators pumps oxygen rich air into patient’s airways to help them breathe. Due to the pandemic, the ventilators available in hospitals are in short supply.
We have seen universities and private companies stepping up to make ventilators that are needed for some critically ill COVID-19 patients. Mobius Motors has now joined the list of individuals and institutions that are willing to make ventilators to supply to hospitals or care centers that are dealing with an ever increasing caseload of critically ill COVID-19 patients.
Mobius Motors follows the list of Kenyan institutions or individuals who are trying to meet the ventilator shortage. Kenyatta University students developed their own ventilator back in April where they promised to produce 50 ventilators in two weeks. At the time, we had only 343 cases and now 3 months later, it has ballooned to almost 18,000 cases. The need for ventilators will be more critical at this stage and it is good we have the local capacity to develop such critical equipment.
