A medical equipment maker said it was recently approached by the government to mass produce veterinary ventilators to treat human coronavirus patients and that dozens of other countries have expressed interest as well.
Metran Co. Chief Executive Kazufuku Nitta said the government officials came calling late last month and that the United States, Britain and India are among over 30 other countries it is talking to.
Ventilators, which help patients struggling to breathe, are in short supply in many countries dealing with COVID-19, the pneumonia-like disease caused by the novel coronavirus.