Without diplomatic relations with Brazil, Venezuela sends oxygen tubes to Manaus – telam

Venezuela announced this Saturday the dispatch of trucks containing oxygen from the southern state of Bolívar to the Brazilian state of Amazonas, in the middle of the health emergency that the city of Manaus is going through due to the coronavirus, a measure which is completed by the arrival in the area of ​​a hundred doctors from the two countries graduated from the Latin American School of Medicine in Caracas.

“Yesterday, I announced the good news to the governor of the state of Amazonas in Brazil, that today, Saturday, the first trucks of bottles containing thousands of liters of oxygen leave the Sidor plant (Siderúrgica del Orinoco), Puerto Ordaz, in Manaus “, he wrote in his Twitter account of Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs Jorge Arreaza.

And in another message, he added: “Yesterday at our consulate in Boa Vista, Roraima, Brazil, 107 Brazilian and Venezuelan doctors, graduates of the Latin American School of Medicine in Caracas, who offer their services to the State of Amazonia in this emergency, they regrouped in the “Simón Bolívar” brigade ”.

The two decisions, but above all the delivery of oxygen, aim to alleviate the critical emergency situation facing Manaus, on the border with Venezuela, due to the increasing number of cases of coronavirus.

The growth in numbers has generated oxygen shortages in hospitals in several public health centers, and many professionals in the sector have expressed anguish because they work in facilities increasingly populated by patients, reported the Sputnik news agency.

The dramatic situation in Manaus

Over the past few weeks, the Brazilian state of Amazonas has reported more than 5,800 deaths from the coronavirus.

During, Jair Bolsonaro’s government has chosen to seek the assistance of the United States to transport the oxygen cylinders.

AFP news agency reported that the executive reported sending oxygen cylinders from other states, and that started airlifting patients to other areas.

According to Governor Wilson Lima, oxygen consumption increased by about 130% from April 2020, the first peak of the pandemic, to January 13, 2021.

The holder of the Union of Amazonian Doctors, Mário Vianna, said in a video posted to social media that patients are kept alive “through the efforts of health professionals, nurses and technicians.”

“A terrible situation that we dreaded and denounced. At this moment, I call on all authorities to come together so that we can find an emergency solution. Carrying oxygen from other states in a context of war is a necessity to save lives “he says, according to the Telesur network.

For this painting, Governor Lima declared a curfew in Manaus from 19 to 6. According to the president, “something unprecedented is happening in the state of Amazonas”, particularly with regard to “the difficulty of refueling and, more precisely, the acquisition of oxygen now”.

Brazil, with around 210 million inhabitants, is one of the epicenters of the pandemic and the second country in the world with the most deaths from Covid-19 after the United States, with nearly 206,000 deaths, and the third with the most infections after the North American nation and India, with around 8.26 million cases.

Venezuela’s supply of tubes closes efforts already discussed on Thursday, when the multinational White Martins supplies hospital announced it would seek oxygen cylinders to reach the Amazon from the neighboring country. Venezuela and Brazil do not have diplomatic relations.

“White Martins has already identified the availability of oxygen in its operations in Venezuela and is currently working to make importation of the product viable for the region,” the company said in a statement two days ago.