The Department of Health has appealed to the public not to hoard oxygen tanks at home to prevent an artificial shortage of the life-saving cylinders.
“I appeal to the public not to hoard medical-grade oxygen tanks unless you have a prescription from your doctor,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said.
“Let the tanks circulate. They need to continue circulating,” he added.
Based on his dialog with Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, Duque said there is no shortage of medical-grade oxygen, with manufacturing companies giving their assurance they can triple the daily supply if necessary.
“We have oxygen, but our problem is the tanks. We need additional tanks and I was told we will need to import 20,000 to 30,000 tanks. We agreed on that,” he said.
The Philippine Confederation of Industrial Gases Inc. (PCIGI), for its part, said the seeming shortage of oxygen tanks was due to the slow turnaround from hospitals to refillers.
“We have the capabilities to produce oxygen, maybe at around 700 tons per day – medical grade and industrial grade. The medical grade is at around 220 tons per day now,” said PCIGI president Raymond Chu.
He said the turnaround of medical-grade oxygen cylinders has been slow.
“There are a lot of idle cylinders in hospitals. Right now, a COVID patient can consume one cylinder in less than two hours. But the cylinder can take 10 days to return to the supplier,” Chu said.