Ali al-Izzi came up with an idea to form a volunteering group to get oxygen to COVID-19 patients after donating some oxygen cylinders that his family had in their possession after one of his relatives died of COVID-19.
He dubbed the group ‘Rapid Response for Providing Oxygen’ and soon a number of volunteers joined who managed to gather 350 oxygen cylinders and donate them (or charging only for refilling costs) primarily to COVID-19 patients who were in home quarantine, but sometimes to hospitals as well.
The team's policy is to give priority to those who are home quarantined
"The team's policy is to give priority to those who are home quarantined," al-Izzi says.
He says that they don’t get any financial help from the government, but they get donations from businessmen and wealthy people, which they use to buy empty oxygen cylinders at the black market at a price of up to $300.
They refill the cylinders at factories in the industrial area of Kirkuk for which they have to pay about $8 per fill. But one factory has decided to give them a discount and take only about $5 per fill.
The group has pages on social media platforms where people can find phone numbers of all their members and request their assistance, according to another member of the group, Muhammad Nuri.
According to the World Health Organization figures, the number of COVID-19 cases, as of 15 December 2020, in Kirkuk province is 28,546, of whom 22,81 have recovered and 763 have died.
500 patients have been provided with oxygen so far
“The Rapid Response has become a refuge for many families with limited income to obtain oxygen for the infected. 500 patients have been provided with oxygen so far. We provide an average of 10 oxygen cylinders for each patient, depending on the condition of the patient,” Nuri told KirkukNow.
26-year-old Muhanad Amir is one of the patients assisted by the group after contacting them through one of the phone numbers they put on their social media pages. The team delivered the oxygen cylinders to his home and charged him only for the refill costs.
There was an acute lack of oxygen at the hospitals in Kirkuk in the first month of the Coronavirus outbreak, which made people seek them outside health facilities.
Al-Izzi and his team continue to work around the clock to provide patients with oxygen.
