BOC seeks 20,000 oxygen cylinders in Covid-19 fight

Kenyans are holding up to 20,000 underutilised or idle oxygen cylinders, which listed industrial gas manufacturer BOC Kenya is now asking for to enable it ramp up supply of medical oxygen to hospitals.

BOC's managing director, Marion Mwangi, said that the cylinders, once returned, will be used to package medical oxygen for supply to both public and private hospitals amid the rising number of Covid-19 infections.

Ample supply of oxygen is needed for the management of Covid-19 patients, who experience breathing difficulty.

“We want to enhance our support to government and private healthcare providers in responding to the treatment of Covid-19 by increasing our national gas cylinders float... We therefore urge anyone with idle cylinders to surrender to us for use with urgency,” Ms Mwangi said yesterday.

“About 20,000 cylinders that can carry medical oxygen are out in the market or not in use yet these could save many lives. The company will issue requisite documents (to those handing them in) which can be retained for future use.”

The cylinders can be delivered at any of BOC’s three factories in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kitui.

BOC, majority owned by global industrial giant Linde Group, deals in industrial and medical gases, welding equipment and consumable, medical equipment and related services.

The firm's appeal for oxygen cylinders is part of the efforts by the private sector to augment the State’s response to the virus, and comes days after Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said that hospitals might be overstretched in the coming days should there be an increase in infections.

By Wednesday, Kenya had confirmed 81 Covid-19 cases, with the Ministry of Health warning that this may hit 10,000 by end of this month if its social distancing and hygiene measures aren't adhered to.

The gas cylinders appeal also comes weeks after the government banned all local manufacturers from exporting N95 and three-ply respirator masks as the country builds up its arsenal of tools to fight the virus.

Kenya has also received 250 ventilators from the World Bank and 20,000 testing kits from Chinese billionaire and co-founder of e-commerce multinational Alibaba Jack Ma to help contain the pandemic.

The outbreak has, however, exposed the soft-under belly of the country's healthcare system, especially the shortage of intensive care unit (ICU) beds.