THE city government is mulling a plan to set up a processing plant for oxygen so that the city will have enough in case of a surge in serious COVID-19 cases.
In her weekly program over Davao City Disaster Radio yesterday, the mayor said the plan is one of the proposals that it is considering as there is a fear of another surge in COVID-19 cases as more cases of Delta variant have been recorded.
“We are asking for estimates on setting up a plant for oxygen,” Duterte said, adding that the city government will operate the facility.
The proposal was brought up during a meeting among the city government, the Department of Health (DOH) and the hospitals, she added.
She said an inventory has also been started on available oxygen tanks. “The DOH has computed the need based on hospital requirements,” she said, as she assigned the City Economic Enterprise to also look into the inventory and request the companies to provide projections as to their manufacturing capacity.
The city government has been supporting the hospitals, including the private ones that accept COVID-19 cases, for their needs to ensure that they are able to serve those who are infected with the virus.
This developed as Dr. Ricardo Audan, Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) chief, assured the public that it has enough supply of oxygen tanks.
In a press briefing also yesterday, Audan said he assured the mayor and the DOH that “we will not be like India, we will not be like Cebu” in relation to availability of oxygen tanks as there were reports that both India and Cebu were running out not only of oxygen tanks but even of hospital beds.
“(Rest assured) that SPMC has sufficient (supply) of oxygen,” said Audan, adding that the government-run tertiary hospital is also expecting more oxygen tanks that will arrive soon.
