Namibia begins installation of oxygen amid rising COVID-19 cases

Namibia’s Health Ministry has commenced the installation of additional gas generating systems at health facilities as COVID-19 cases soar as demand for oxygen has increased.

Health Minister. Kalumbi Shangula said on Thursday.

As it has been reported recently, there was great pressure on the available hospital beds, human resources, and oxygen said Shangula at a donation event of 21-ton bulk oxygen by the country’s chamber of commerce in Windhoek.

“A new gas generating system with the capacity of producing 370 liters of oxygen per minute was also installed and commissioned on Tuesday.

“This system is dedicated to supplying oxygen to the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit at the Windhoek Central Hospital, while the existing system will continue to serve the hospital as was the case before,’’ he said.

According to Shangula, the ministry is also set to install a 13.5-ton bulk oxygen tank at Oshakati hospital dedicated to the COVID-19 isolation and treatment unit, which has a capacity of 80 beds.

“It is also envisaged to install additional gas generating systems at other health facilities across the country,’’ he added.

Currently, Namibia has 533 hospitalized cases of which 96 are in Intensive Care Units.