CEBU CITY – Long queues cannot only be seen in hospitals here but in pharmacies too as several individuals scamper to buy oxygen tanks.
With hospitals already full due to rising cases of COVID-19, oxygen have become a hot commodity.
On Monday morning, several people with relatives waiting to be admitted in a hospital rushed to buy oxygen tanks from a pharmacy situated in front of the Vicente Sotto
Memorial Medical Center.
“We have to wait here while waiting for vacancy,”Jessa Austre, a resident of Asturias town, Cebu, who rushed her mother to the hospital after experiencing difficulty in breathing.
“It just shows that our hospitals are full,” said City Councilor Dave Tumulak.
Tumulak appealed to the national government to provide assistance such as deploying more doctors and nurses and the needed medical equipment.
On Saturday night, at least 33 patients with oxygen waited outside a private hospital.
While some of the patients stayed in the hospital lobby, some stayed inside their cars while awaiting to be admitted.
The city had 2,942 active COVID-19 cases as of August 1.