Peruvian President Francisco Sagasti on Sunday affirmed that the Transition and Emergency Government under his leadership seeks different solutions to close the gap caused by the shortage of medical oxygen across the country in a short time and meet coronavirus patients' high demand for it.
"We hope to close the oxygen gap in the shortest possible time with shipments from Chile and Ecuador, as well as with additional measures to import oxygen, which we are negotiating with some suppliers. Thus, we can meet the growing demand," he said.
According to the Head of State,
oxygen imported from Chile is slated to arrive today on a truck escorted by members of the Armed Forces.
The shipment includes a tank containing liquid oxygen that vaporizes following a procedure and is then converted into gaseous oxygen, which is required by patients.
The President pointed out that the conversion of liquid oxygen to gaseous oxygen takes a few minutes, noting that not all hospitals in the country are equipped to carry out this process.
Moreover, he explained that COVID-19 patients' demand for medical oxygen not only doubled but tripled in a few weeks, thus making it impossible for domestic suppliers to meet the demand.
For this reason, he said, Peru is resorting to imports and moving forward with setting up oxygen plants, whose delivery is already compromised.
Remarks were made from Cañete, where the President supervised the delivery of medical equipment at the Temporary Care and Isolation Center.
(END) JCR/RMCH/JCR/RMB
Published: 2/28/2021