By Sami Zaptia.
London, 23 July 2021:
The Libyan Iron and Steel Company (LISCO) assured the Libyan public yesterday that its production of (medical) oxygen is very stable, in quantities that meet the needs of hospitals, and with a high purity (99.9 per cent).
It also announced that the trial operation of its new oxygen plant, which it says is the largest in Libya, has started with a production capacity of 6,000 cubic meters per day of medical-grade oxygen, or around 700 cylinders per day.
Moreover, LISCO announced that patients self-treating themselves at home and in need of medical oxygen can go directly to the company to fill their oxygen cylinders for free.
LISCO reminded the public that although its iron and steel production has been completely stopped by the government to save on electricity use and reduce summertime power cuts, its gas services department has worked around the clock to maintain oxygen supply to meet the needs of the pandemic crisis.
The oxygen supply crisis
It will be recalled that with the arrival of the Delta/Indian variant in Libya daily positive Coronavirus cases and hospitalizations have shot up. This had led to a shortage of oxygen supply across the country – a shortage that LISCO has stepped in to try to meet.
The latest Coronavirus cases and vaccinations
Meanwhile, the latest National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) figures reported today read as follows:
| Total number of people vaccinated | 490,614 |
| Total number of Coronavirus cases | 229,604 |
| Total number of recovered cases | 185,468 |
| Total number of active cases | 40,792 |
| Total number of deaths | 3,344 |
| Total number of tests conducted over last 24 hours | 5,017 |
| Total rate of infection | 43.2 percent |
