With the sudden skyrocketing number of COVID-19 cases in the country, a new crisis is looming with dreadful consequences: A shortage of oxygen tanks.
After Lebanon slipped into its highest peak of COVID-19 cases a day, hitting over 5,000 cases, hospitals have been overwhelmed with patients, resulting in the surge of high demand in oxygen tanks and concentrators.
Lebanon’s Medical Equipment Importers Syndicate released a list of numbers people could call for an urgent need of the tanks, but the supply has almost run out.
In a video released by Salma Assi, the Syndicate’s president, she urges people to leave the tanks for patients who truly need it and not hoard them “just in case,” as to not hinder the provision of oxygen from patients with emergency cases.
But adding to all of that, the devaluation of the Lebanese currency has resulted in import prices of the tanks to range between $1,000 to $2,000, making it extremely difficult for struggling families to secure any while hospitals are sending back patients home to treat themselves.
With a devastating amount of COVID-19 cases, overwhelmed hospitals, a devalued currency, and a lack of oxygen tanks, Lebanon appears to hit its lowest of points.
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