The move comes as tech giant Apple says it will start making face shields for medical workers.
Meanwhile, Babcock said in a statement that it had"responded quickly to the UK Prime Minister's UK Ventilator Challenge".
"We are proud to have been awarded a contract by the Cabinet Office to manufacture 10,000 Zephyr Plus ventilators, subject to regulatory approvals; a product being developed in collaboration with an established major international supplier of critical care ventilators," the firm added. A ventilator is a machine that helps a person breathe by getting oxygen into the lungs and removing carbon dioxide.
A shortage of ventilators to treat coronavirus patients with acute symptoms is seen as one of the major problems facing the NHS as it battles the pandemic. Babcock's statement did not say where the ventilators would be manufactured, but it has factories in Scotland and south-west England.Companies, from electronics firms to carmakers, have been shifting production to help make vital medical equipment and supplies for hospitals around the world.
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