ASUNCION, June 10 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benítez reached out to his Brazilian colleague Jair Bolsonaro to negotiate the purchase of medical oxygen above the current quota because it is not enough, according to health authorities.
After a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Abdo was briefed on the need for additional supply due to the high level of covid-19 infections in Paraguay.
The president decided to phone Bolsonaro in an attempt to negotiate a supply above the current limit of the Brazilian Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) which was set at 100 tonnes per week, when Paraguay would need 700, as domestic suppliers were unable to deliver the required quantities, it was reported.
Health Minister Julio Borba explained that the current consumption rate was about 180 tons per day and local companies do not have the production capacity to supply the current demand.
The country’s Ministry of Health has reported another day with more than 130 coronavirus deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to more than 10,000.
In the last day, authorities confirmed 3,135 new cases of covid-19 in the country, bringing the total number of people infected since the start of the pandemic to 379,131. — NNN-MERCOPRESS
