The state of Sao Paulo recorded the highest number of infections in the country with 2.3 million cases and 67,414 deaths nationwide. | Photo: EFE

Sao Paulo, March 21 (RHC)-- In the midst of the worst scenario of the COVID pandemic in Brazil with the increase of cases and daily deaths, the lack of oxygen to treat patients with the coronavirus is added to the health care collapse.

Health authorities in the state of Sao Paulo began on Saturday the transfer of patients affected by coronavirus from the UPA Ermelino Matarazzo hospital at the risk of running out of oxygen reserves after increased consumption in some hospitals.

For the first time, oxygen was lacking in a public health unit in SP.  At least ten patients who were hospitalized at UPA Ermelino Matarazzo, in the eastern zone, had to be transferred.  "The problem is not the oxygen, but the logistical exhaustion of the delivery of the product that is causing the delay," explained the municipal secretary of Health of Sao Paulo, Edson Aparecido.

The state of Sao Paulo registers the highest number of contagions in Brazil with 2.3 million cases and 67,414 deaths nationwide.

The gas shortage generates concerns in other regions of the country.  The National Front of Mayors (FNP) projects that at least 76 municipalities in 15 states have a hospital oxygen supply on the verge of running out.