First “oxygen ATM” launched in HCM City amid COVID-19
The first-ever “oxygen ATM” was recently put into operation in Ho Chi Minh City with the message “Giving oxygen - Extending life”.
Ho Chi Minh City has been experiencing a sharp rise in COVID-19 patients, with many in worsening condition. A large number of patients have to stay at home for treatment as hospitals have been overwhelmed.
The “oxygen ATM” initiative is the brainchild of Hoang Tuan Anh, who also created the so-called “rice ATMs” that offered free rice to people in need during last year’s COVID-19 outbreak.
To make the initiative more effectively, volunteers are deployed at “oxygen ATMs”. They stand by around the clock to receive requests from patients who are in need of oxygen, oxygen machines and tanks. Then they deliver these items to the needy between 8am and 5pm each day, as there is a 6pm to 6am curfew in the city.
The “oxygen ATMs” provide free oxygen machines and oxygen tanks to COVID-19 patients who are quarantined and being treated at home.
The initiative will soon be expanded to all districts around the city. The Young Entrepreneurs Association will collect 900 oxygen cylinders. In the second phase, 5,000 to 10,000 cylinders will be exchanged for free with hospitals.
In the third phase, oxygen cylinders will be lent to hospitals, and when Ho Chi Minh City has controlled the outbreak, the initiative will be expanded to other cities and provinces around the country.
The initiative has only 90 oxygen cylinders at the moment, allocated to six “oxygen ATMs” in six districts.
