They explained that little more than 100 days ago the industrial gases plant, concentrating 95 percent of the production of liquid oxygen in Cuba suffered a breakdown.

On May 26, OxiCuba S.A. stopped its productions and began distributing from stock and a small plant in operation.

For general manager of OxiCuba S.A., José Manuel Gámez, the worst was last month due to the breakdown. However, from September 4, the plant is already in adjustment and start-up operation stage, to achieve important productions.

OxiCuba is capable of producing 70 000 cubic meters of liquid oxygen daily, above the demand of the health system, which is currently of 40 000.

In April this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) labelled medicinal oxygen as an essential drug for the treatment of Covid-19, and recommended countries to increase investments in these infrastructures if they wanted to strengthen their health systems.

According to Gámez, Cuba worked from 1997 and 1998 to create own oxygen-producing capacities.

OxiCuba and a plant in eastern province of Santiago de Cuba, five percent of the country’s production, managed in more than 20 years to satisfy the demand.

For the director of OxiCuba, with the plant running, what is left is to restore stocks, a gradual process of approximately two months. There are empty tanks, to be cooled down, a necessary technological mechanism.

In the production of oxygen, the air is cooled down to minus 186 degrees Celsius. The gas condenses and, once liquefied, is transported in tanker trucks, for example, to hospitals, where it is introduced into tanks returning it to the gas state to be administered to patients.

Cuba completes the adjustment and start-up operation stage of its plants, already achieving important productions for the health system.

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