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HEALTH-VIRUS-MEXICO-OXYGEN
Mexicans queue for hours for oxygen for sick relatives
MEXICO CITY, Jan 23, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – With hospitals in the Mexican
capital overwhelmed by soaring coronavirus infections, relatives are queuing
for hours to buy oxygen for the growing number of people fighting the virus
at home.
Eduardo Martinez was waiting in line in a street in Mexico City on Friday
to fill a tank for his 55-year-old mother who is sick with Covid-19.
Fearing a worsening of the pandemic, the 33-year-old biochemist bought a
cylinder in advance and saved his Christmas bonus, which he used to pay for a
coronavirus test for his mother.
Despite a partial lockdown in Mexico City, two of Martinez’s neighbors
recently died.
“Where we live, people are very reckless and stupid, they don’t wear
masks,” he said.
Some families have to return repeatedly, around the clock, for more oxygen.
“These little tanks aren’t enough, so we have to fill them four to five
times a day and night,” said Viridiana Valencia, a 31-year-old
psychotherapist.
“Here is the only place that is open 24 hours a day. It’s very difficult.”
The city of nine million people has been in a state of maximum alert since
mid-December, with more than 90 percent of hospital beds full due to soaring
infections.
Non-essential activities have been suspended in the capital, which has
officially registered more than 26,000 Covid-19 deaths, out of nearly 147,000
nationwide.
“Alert, alert, we are in an emergency for Covid!” a warning blared through
the loudspeaker of a passing police patrol.
Ileana Ruiz was waiting to buy oxygen for her uncle to breathe while he is
transferred from a public hospital to a private clinic where he hopes to
receive better treatment.
They plan to move him by private car because “there are no ambulances,” she
said.
The 23-year-old medical student has been unable to attend her virtual
classes for four days because she has been looking for medicines and oxygen.
“We estimate that it will last an hour, enough for the transfer,” said
Ruiz, who faces a bill of 200 pesos ($10) to fill a small tank.
Demand for oxygen has leapt eightfold in the past month, Jesus Montano,
from Mexico’s Office of the Federal Prosecutor for the Consumer, told AFP.
Although the government offers free refills at some locations, “the big
problem is the lack of tanks,” he said.
For people like Valencia with sick relatives at home, it is an anxious wait
in the queue.
“The lines are very long, the minutes count on and she can’t be without her
oxygen at any time,” she said.
BSS/AFP/SSS/0838 hrs