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Rumbidzayi Zinyuke Manicaland Bureau

Manicaland has submitted a request for funding from Treasury to install a bulk oxygen supply system at the Victoria Chitepo Provincial Hospital Covid-19 isolation unit as demand for oxygen has increased and put pressure on the available system.

The hospital is currently using a manifold which allows four cylinders to be connected to the medical reticulation system.

Provincial Development coordinator Mr Edgars Seenza said while all the works to make the isolation unit functional were completed, the need to enhance capacity of the system could not be ignored.

“The department of Public Works completed all the works at the provincial hospital unit but we realized the existing medical oxygen system needed to be upgraded due to the increase in demand for the oxygen,” he said.

He said work on other isolation facilities was still in progress and would be complete as soon as more funding is released.

Besides the Victoria Chitepo isolation unit, the province also has the Mutare Infectious Disease Hospital which is almost 80 percent complete.

Isolation units have also been established in all district hospitals and renovations are ongoing although the institutions are already admitting Covid 19 patients.