Upon directives of President al-Assad, Health Ministry provides 25 tons of Oxygen to Lebanon as first batch

Damascus, SANA- Upon the directives of President Bashar al-Assad, the Health Ministry has ensured 25 tons of Oxygen as a first batch to Lebanon.

Health Minister Dr. Hassan al-Ghabbash said, in a press conference held on Wednesday following a meeting with Health Minister in Lebanese Caretaker Government Dr. Hamad Hassan, that about 75 tons of Oxygen will be delivered to Lebanon in three days by 25 tons each day in a way that doesn’t affect the Oxygen system in Syria, particularly that the health situation in Syria is facing a number of difficulties and that the hospitals are full of corona patients, but Syria has used to extend help and we are ready for it.

Dr. al-Ghabbash added “We received a phone call yesterday from the Lebanese Minister of Health in which he requested the assistance of the Syrian government to secure oxygen for coronavirus patients in the intensive care units due to the sever decrease in the hospitals in Lebanon.
He stressed that upon the directives of President Bashar al-Assad to provide urgent and immediate assistance, 25 tons of liquid oxygen were prepared to be sent to Lebanon immediately as first batch.

The Minister pointed out that the health sector in Syria has been exposed to fierce siege and it is witnessing a difficult work situation as the health cadres in Syria and in all other countries are facing a large challenge in addressing coronavirus, indicating that providing oxygen to assist the brothers in Lebanon in this global crisis affirms the strong relations linking the two countries and peoples.

For his part, Dr. Hassan said that after oxygen has run out of the Lebanese hospitals, we have communicated with the Syrian Health Ministry in this regard and the response was in utmost speed.

He added that there are 1,000 patients currently on respirators in Lebanon, asserting that the existed amount of Oxygen is sufficient to today only.

He indicated that despite of the need and the increasing demand on Oxygen in Syria, the respond was positive which proves that betting on brothers in crises is a correct choice.

The Lebanese Minister thanked President al-Assad for this respond to save Lebanon from the disaster through saving the lives of a lot of Lebanese people.

“Coordination have been underway between the Syrian and Lebanese sides since the outbreak of the Corona pandemic, particularly through border crossings, to limit the spread of infection to and from the two countries,” the Lebanese Minister went on saying.
He indicated that the possibility of activating cooperation to supply oxygen from the Syrian laboratories was discussed during the visit.

Hala Zain