Zimbabwe Invites Tenders for Oxygen Supply as Covid Cases Surge




Medical staff of the Intensive Care Unit of the Casalpalocco COVID-19 Clinic in the outskirts of Rome tend to patients, Wednesday, March 25, 2020. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)
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(Bloomberg) — Zimbabwe’s Health Ministry invited tenders to supply oxygen to its medical facilities as the number of coronavirus infections surge.

The request was made for hospitals already facing strain from a shortage of beds and equipment, which threaten to overwhelm the nation’s weak public-health system.

The tender closes Jan 18., the ministry said in an advertisement published in the state-owned Herald newspaper. Portia Manangazira, the director for epidemiology and disease control in the ministry, declined to comment.

Zimbabwe has recorded 23,239 cases of Covid-19 and 551 fatalities, according to Health Ministry data.