Search for oxygen refill new routine for Peruvians

In the middle of what was once a sandy desert, on the outskirts of Peru’s capital, a new routine has emerged for many of the residents of the densely populated city of Villa El Salvador. With the lives of friends or relatives at stake because of the new coronavirus, people are spending their days searching for a place to buy oxygen, preferably without having to spend their life savings.

People are carrying empty oxygen tanks, bought in the black market, around town, hoping to find a place to fill them. Oxygen is crucial to save the lives of those critically ill with COVID-19. And in this city of more than 508,000 people, it has become a limited commodity just as a second wave of coronavirus infections hits the South American country. Peru has tallied more than 1 million cases and over 39,000 deaths of COVID-19, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.