WHO warns of global shortage of oxygen equipment

As 1 million new cases of coronavirus are confirmed worldwide per week, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that hospitals are facing a shortage in oxygen concentrators needed to support the breathing of Covid-19 patients suffering from respiratory distress.

“Many countries are now experiencing difficulties obtaining oxygen concentrators,” WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “Demand is currently outstripping supply.”

The health agency has bought 14,000 oxygen concentrators from manufacturers and plans to send them to 120 countries in coming weeks, Tedros said. A further 170,000 concentrators – worth about US$100m – will be potentially available over the next six months.

Cases worldwide passed 9.4 million on Thursday, with the WHO saying it expected global infections to pass 10 million by the end of the week. At least 480,000 people have died so far.

 

Read more via The Guardian

Discover more from The Dispatch

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

Verified by MonsterInsights