Elon Musk has delivered more than 1,200 ventilators to California officials this week, an effort that will provide treatment for hospital patients with severe cases of COVID-19.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said during a press conference the Tesla boss had made good on his pledge to provide medical equipment in the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

“I told you a few days ago that he was likely to have a thousand ventilators this week. They arrived in Los Angeles and [Musk] is already working with the hospital association and others to get those ventilators out in real time. It’s a heroic effort.”

Newsom previously sought the help of tech industry CEOs, including Apple’s Tim Cook, with mask and ventilator production amid fears critical supplies could run dry.

There have been at least 1,730 positive cases and at least 27 deaths in California according to the latest public data.

Musk said the devices were purchased from China and airlifted to the state, tweeting: “China had an oversupply, so we bought 1255 FDA-approved ResMed, Philips & Medtronic ventilators on Friday night and airshipped them to LA. If you want a free ventilator installed, please let us know!”

Musk thanked the Chinese division of his electric car company, China’s Customs Authority and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) customs for “acting so swiftly.” He previously said on Twitter that a shipment of respirator masks had been temporarily held at the same airport.

It was later resolved. “OK, after some additional investigating we’ve found that this shipment has been cleared for release by the FDA [Food and Drug Administration]. LAX, U.S. Customs and the FDA are all working together to expedite critical PPE shipments,” the account later added.

A February 2020 report released by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security estimated that U.S. acute care hospitals own approximately 62,000 full-featured mechanical ventilators.

It said an “additional 98,000 ventilators that are not full-featured but can still provide basic function in an emergency during crisis standards of care.” It warned: “The need for ventilation services during a severe pandemic could quickly overwhelm these day-to- day operational capabilities.”

The University of Washington School of Medicine received a donation from Tesla of approximately 50,000 face masks over the weekend. Efforts to provide medical gear to hospitals and health centers in the U.S. are underway by a range of tech firms, including Facebook, Apple and Intel.

On March 6, Musk tweeted “the coronavirus panic is dumb” but later said his company could help, noting on social media that he would start making ventilators “if there is a shortage.”