Community distribution of oxygen: a unique COVID-19 intervention

The rapid spread of COVID-19 around the world has exposed some long-standing deficiencies in health systems, particularly in environments with low financial and medical resources. Most patients ill with COVID-19 require oxygen and supportive therapy for survival as there remains no conclusively established curative therapy. Following a number of critical research work and drawing from a millennia-long evolution of medical practice, respiratory support has been identified as a paramount intervention to ensure lives are saved when supportive care is required, and oxygen is an essential commodity to achieve this. This letter focuses on the numerous means for oxygen delivery to health facilities and in turn the end users and expands on the importance of innovation to improve oxygen supply. We describe a community distribution system with a telemedicine structure that can be leveraged for oxygen delivery.