Thalita Rocha Lima was visiting a crowded Covid-19 ward this month in Manaus, the largest Brazilian city in the Amazon, when her mother-in-law Maria and other patients were suddenly agitated, sweating and short of breath as their fingertips turned purple.
“I ran to check the equipment and that’s when I realized: there was no more oxygen,” said Rocha Lima, who ran out into the corridor shouting: “They are going to die”.
The hospital director informed her that the hospital was without oxygen and did not know when it would increase, she said. Her mother-in-law, a 67-year-old retired nurse, choked about 14 hours after the oxygen ran out, along with others in her ward, Rocha Lima said.
As Covid-19 cases increase dramatically in much of the world, oxygen scarcity is forcing hospitals to ration oxygen for patients and the number of deaths from the coronavirus pandemic is increasing. The problem is especially acute in the developing world, but it has also hit hospitals in London and Los Angeles.
From Brazil to Zambia, overcrowded and under-resourced hospitals are demanding emergency oxygen replenishment. In Mexico and South Africa, people are stocking oxygen tubes to try to prevent the Covid-19 neighborhoods from overflowing, raising prices and making it more difficult for poorer families to rent tanks. In Mexico, armed bandits are stealing oxygen tanks.