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Ventilators: Why are they used to treat coronavirus, how many do the NHS have and will we run out? NewsColony Britain is in dire need of ventilators as it faces the growing coronavirus outbreak. Engineers have been asked to draw up plans to quickly produce more ventilators in the UK, with Boris Johnson urging manufacturers to join a “national effort” to produce equipment for the NHS . Ventilators are used to treat respiratory diseases such as Covid-19 . Download the new Independent Premium app Sharing the full story, not just the headlines Download now They work as an artificial set of lungs, providing oxygen to the body and removing carbon dioxide. The UK currently has around 6,699 adult mechanical ventilators in the NHS, as well as a further 750 paediatric ventilators which can be re-purposed, NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens told the Health Select Committee chairman Jeremy Hunt on Tuesday. There were also an estimated 691 in the private sector and...