If you are looking for oxygen in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Pedro Sandoval is the man to call. For about $60 per week, Mr Sandoval will deliver and install a pressurised cylinder of the gas. For those who prefer to buy their own, he can import one from China for around $400. Hawkers like Mr Sandoval are sprouting up in dozens of mostly poor countries to satisfy soaring demand for oxygen to treat covid-19 patients. It is a cruel irony: oxygen is the most abundant element on Earth, yet its scarcity in hospitals is causing thousands of preventable deaths. A coalition of international health organisations, investors and government agencies is trying to solve the problem. It will not be easy.
The Economist: Hospitals are running out of oxygen to treat COVID-19 patients
A health worker holds an oxygen tank at the COVID-19 area of the Santo Socorro Hospital in Santo Domingo, on June 12, 2020.
