Argentina suspends medical oxygen prices

By Bala Chambers

LONDON (AA) - Argentina on Thursday suspended any price increase in medical oxygen for 90 days and called on liquid oxygen producers to prioritize supply to the health care system following an increase in COVID-19 infections in recent weeks.

The ministries of health and productive development signed a joint resolution under which prices of medicinal oxygen are frozen for 90 days and said all liquid oxygen producers in the country are obliged to allocate “the supply of the demand for health care,” according to a Health Ministry resolution published in the official gazette.

On April 27, Health Minister Carla Vizzotti said "at this moment, the oxygen demand is between two or three times more than the moment of the highest consumption of last year.”

The country had already ceased exports of oxygen.

In recent weeks, Argentina has been hit hard by a second wave of infections, setting daily records.

As a consequence, tighter restrictions have been imposed to prevent movement and indoor activities in the most affected part of the country, the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area.

Vizzotti previously described the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area as "the epicenter of the pandemic.”

Following the recent rise in infections, the health minister has underscored the risk it poses to the health care system.

On Thursday, the percentage of total occupancy of adult intensive care unit (ICU) beds in Argentina stood at 68.4% but was higher in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area, at 76.6%.

According to Health Ministry data, around 7.8 million vaccine doses have been administered, with 6.8 million people receiving the first dose and 922,488 receiving the second dose.​​​​​​​

Argentina, with a population of more than 45 million, has registered more than 2.9 million coronavirus cases and 63,508 deaths, while more than 2.6 million patients have recovered.