Oxygen hard to find for virus patients in Peru

LIMA: Alejandro Ccasa waited six days in a line of more than 200 people to fill an oxygen tank that his beloved uncle needs because he is infected with the coronavirus that has killed thousands in Peru.

The struggle to find medical-grade oxygen for coronavirus patients in Peru is similar to what is happening in other Latin American countries.

Now, family members are exhausted and in debt because of their efforts to find help for their loved ones.

Alejandro's uncle, Santiago Ccasa, has been using oxygen for seven days, forcing the family to spend $6,800. In Peru, the basic monthly salary is $255.

Alejandro buys oxygen from one of the few places that offers the vital element at $5.5 per cubic meter.

With the demand for oxygen spiking, resellers have increased the price six times.

The 28-year-old puts his hands together and prays to thank God for getting to the top of the queue.

Alejandro and his relatives visited dozens of distributors in search of oxygen for uncle Santiago, who took Alejandro in as a child.

Despite the effort, the oxygen in Santiago's blood dropped to 34% on Tuesday, a serious level because normal levels must be above 95%.

The 68-year-old tailor began with discomfort in the body and his health has been deteriorating day by day.

His oxygen saturation level has even dropped to 34%, his nephew said.

The oxygen demand of patients who are cared for at home and do not go to hospitals in Peru due to lack of beds is unknown.

Hospitals require about 250 tons of oxygen per day and the largest local production company barely generates 220 tons, according to official data.

Filling an oxygen tank requires not only money and time, but also mental fortitude.

Over six days, Ccasa has seen others receive calls letting them know that their relative had died because the oxygen did not arrive.

The search for the vital element has left thousands of Peruvians in debt, spending all their reserves.

Desperate, many people looking for oxygen have fallen for social media scams, police said.

Every morning the agents verify that the line in front of the oxygen distributor recently visited by Ccasa is orderly and try to kick out any resellers, who sometimes pretend to be relatives of the sick to buy cheap oxygen and sell it at a higher price.

Portable oxygen concentrators, machines that generate oxygen and have become an alternative to the tanks, are scarce and those available "have exorbitant costs," Alejandro Ccasa said.

Peru began to experience a second wave of coronavirus cases in January, which has resulted in the collapse of hospital emergency rooms.

Many people, including Alejandro's uncle, gave up on going to a hospital because he knew that he would not find a bed.

At home, Santiago was treated by a private nurse while he received a cocktail of medications recommended by a pulmonologist.

The clothing maker resisted the disease while listening to music played with a mandolin by "Condemayta de Acomayo", a Quechua-language musical ensemble from the high villages of Cusco, the ancient capital of the Incas.

Due to the high demand, Alejandro's tank, of 10 cubic meters, was filled to 40% of its capacity.

But while in a taxi on his way home, his cell phone rang: his uncle had been taken to a hospital emergency room. Saturation continued to decline, below 20%.

The clothing manufacturer did not resist and died.

Santiago was a man who had been born in the heights of Cusco, he ran every morning and ate healthy food, Alejandro recalled.

In less than a year more than 41,000 have died in Peru and more than a million have been infected with the virus.

In 10 regions of the country, including Lima, there is a two-week lockdown that has led to the closure of gyms, churches and casinos.

Curfew begins at 6 p.m.