Medical grade oxygen suppliers say the return of oxygen tanks from hospitals delays the sale of medical oxygen.
Philippine Confederation of Industrial Gases, Inc. President Raymond Chu told PTV that the turnaround of oxygen tanks from hospitals usually takes 10 days which causes the delay inflow of the commodity’s supply.
“There are a lot of idle cylinders in hospitals. A COVID patient can consume one cylinder in less than two hours, but the cylinder can take ten days to return to the supplier,” Chu said.
In a Laging Handa public briefing on Saturday (Aug. 14), the Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said some individuals hoard medical-grade oxygens.
“May adequate stocks pa tayo. Ang problema natin ngayon would be iyong hoarding ng mga tao na [ang] ginagawa, bumibili sila kahit hindi pa nila kailangan ng medical grade oxygen. So, we are trying to regulate that at the moment,” Vergeire said.
Vergeire said funds for the procurement of stockpiling on oxygen for all hospitals have been downloaded.
“Iyong stockpiling on oxygen for all of our hospital, we have downloaded funds already para po makapag-procure na rin ng mga kinakailangan ang ating mga hospitals for these specific supplies and as to health care workers, continuous po ang emergency hiring natin,” Vergeire said.
“Nagbaba rin tayo ng pera sa mga hospitals para kahit sila po ay makapag-start ng hiring na mabilis na proseso so that we can augment our health care workers po sa mga ospital,” she added. – Report from Louisa Erispe / CF – bny
