World faces oxygen shortage: WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that the world faces a shortage of oxygen concentrators as the number of worldwide cases of coronavirus infection nears the 10 million mark.

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said this at a press conference on Wednesday.

“Many countries are now experiencing difficulties obtaining oxygen concentrators. Demand is currently outstripping supply,” he said.

The new coronavirus has hit 9.3 million people and killed more than 480,000 so far and is rising by about 1 million cases per week. This has pushed oxygen demand to 88,000 large cylinders per day, or 620,000 cubic metres of oxygen, Tedros said.

The sudden rise has created a dearth of oxygen concentrators needed to support breathing of COVID-19 patients suffering from respiratory distress.

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