In a city on the west coast of Mexico City, dozens of people are selling oxygen to their families in covid-19. Hacen has fifty hours of filing for a charge that, in some cases, lasts for 60 minutes.
Resigned, advancing to the doorstep of a private company, giving an employee retrieves tanks for markers with the customer’s number.
“Alert, alert, we are emerging by covid!”, herhaal frente a la fila, a todo volumen, una grabación emitida a través del altavoz de una patrolla policial.
Sober Eduardo Martínez, biochemist of 33 years, in the heat of a day to learn the memory of his mother, diagnosed with the new coronavirus last March.
Preventing the invoice that passes the excess fines of the year -of those who insure their family is on the verge- Martínez has bought with a cylinder and guarded the money of the aguinaldos.
“Afortunadamente did not buy anything in December”, dijo a la AFP. As a result, I could pay 3,500 pesos (175 dollars) which cost the PCR proof of a woman of 55 years, who will stay in the house.
Mexico City, numbering millions of residents, is at the height of the alert since December 18, with a 90% hospital occupancy rate increasing from the contagios.
With 43,000 active cases and 26,152 deaths, non-essential activities are suspended. In the country, of 128 million inhabitants, there are 146,174 bankruptcies and 1.7 million contagious.
Looking at the cases, Martínez said that the venous virus was circulating in its barrier, recently killing wounds. “Donde vivimos la gente es muy imprudente, necia, no usan cubrebocas. ¡Les vale!”.
At one point, Ileana Ruiz was looking for oxygen in order to resist the move from a public hospital – which was not well attended – to a private clinic.
He’s in the car especially because “he has no ambulances”, this is a medical student of 23 years, who has not been able to access his virtual classes since four days ago by looking for medicines and, now, oxygen.
“We calculate that it lasts one hour, the need for the transfer”, signaled the young man, who had to pay 200 pesos (10 dollars) for the collection of the most small tank.
Debate over pandemic, “oxygen demand increases 700% in the last month”, declares to AFP Jesús Montaño, of the Federal Procuraduría del Consumidor.
On the other hand, fraud and speculation in social media have been increased, so “exorbitant prices” are cobra.
Although the governing body has free oxygen donations, “the big problem is the lack of tanks. There is no such thing as a liver cell,” Montaño said.