Brazilian state of Amazonas receives oxygen from Venezuela

60 premature babies transferred in Brazil due to lack of oxygen 0:45

(CNN Spanish) -

The government of the Brazilian state of Amazonas reported this Wednesday that it received 136,000 cubic meters of oxygen donated by the government of the Bolívar state in Venezuela.

The new supply, which arrived in Manaus on Tuesday night, will supply the public health network of the state capital and the interior, the state government said in a statement.

The Secretary of Health of Amazonas, Marcellus Campelo, thanked the representatives of the neighboring country and stated that the cargo will be useful at a time when there is an increase in cases of covid-19 and the availability of hospital oxygen has become the most recent sign of the health crisis that the pandemic has caused in the remote Brazilian region.

The state, located in the northwest of the country, also received on Wednesday five plants for the production of liquid oxygen donated by the Sirio-Libanés Hospital in Sao Paulo, a production capacity that will serve health units in five municipalities in the interior.

A Venezuelan truck driver shows a flag of his country when arriving in Brazil transporting oxygen to assist patients with covid-19 in Manaus, in the state of Amazonas, on January 19, 2021. (Credit: Marcio James / AFP / Getty Images)

The oxygen cargo from Venezuela was transferred to a supplier plant.

There, pertinent procedures will be carried out for their authorization and subsequent distribution "to meet the demands according to the needs of each health unit," they reported.

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For its part, the Brazilian Ministry of Health reported that on Tuesday two of seven oxygen generating plants began to be installed in the state.

In a statement they explained that they will support the operation of the pavilions that the Army is installing in a field hospital in Manaus.

Both plants generate 26 cubic meters of oxygen per hour and will serve the 50 clinical beds of said establishment, they detailed.

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Collapsed health facilities in the state of Amazonas

Since last week, the state of Amazonas has seen its health facilities collapse due to an oxygen shortage.

Manaus, the capital, was the first to register problems with supply.

As of Tuesday, the Brazilian Ministry of Health confirmed 8,573,864 cases of coronavirus and 211,491 deaths associated with the disease nationwide.

According to data from Johns Hopkins University, it is the third country with the most cases worldwide.

The official note added that the Venezuelan consul in Manaus, Patricia Silva, celebrated the arrival of the shipment.

He also stated that his country is willing to continue collaborating to the extent of its possibilities.

The Brazilian government has been critical of the Nicolás Maduro regime.

It recognizes Juan Guaidó and the National Assembly elected in 2015 as the legitimate president of Venezuela.

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