4 Years Of Sales, This Is The First Time The Demand For Oxygen Cylinders Has Increased 10 Times During The COVID-19 Outbreak

Seller of medical devices in the Koja area, North Jakarta, Arios Aritonang (59) /ANTARA

JAKARTA - Seller of medical devices in the Koja area, North Jakarta, Arios Aritonang (59) said that during four years of selling, this is the first time the demand for oxygen cylinder refills has increased more than 10 times than usual.

Two weeks ago when COVID-19 cases were not as high as they are now, he sold 10 cubic meters of oxygen gas. But currently, the stock is 100 cubic meters (m3).

"Usually it's 10 cubic meters per day, now it's 100 cubic meters. If you say, it's much more," Aritonang told reporters as quoted by Antara, Friday, July 2.

Aritonang did not increase the gas refill rate for four years selling oxygen because he did not want to trouble those in need.

Moreover, many of the buyers who came from outside Jakarta were out of stock, so they bought oxygen gas at his shop located on Jalan Plumpang Semper Raya, Koja, North Jakarta.

The rates for refilling a cylinder with a volume of one cubic meter are IDR 30,000, one and a half cubic meters IDR 40,000 and two cubic meters IDR 50,000.

That's just the refill price. As for the new tube, Aritonang doesn't know the current price because the store's stock has been empty since two weeks ago.

"Now I don't know because the item is empty, but I saw it on 'online' (buying and selling sites) for IDR 3-4 million. Even though two weeks ago I still sold IDR 950,000," said Aritonang.

If the gas stock in his canisters runs out, Aritonang takes oxygen stock from PT Sinar Sejahtera in the Semper area, Cilincing, North Jakarta.

Once taken, usually Aritonang is given only 75,000 cubic meters by the factory. But this morning, according to Aritonang, the delivery was no longer available.

He admits that he is confused about serving buyers who are increasingly ordering tubes via text messages because the amount of oxygen that can be refilled is limited.

"We put the phone number on Google Maps. Now, lately people haven't stopped asking the price of refills, the price of tubes," he said.

He was also overwhelmed by his questions on the phone. "Many from outside the region asked us, from Bekasi, Bogor, Tangerang about oxygen cylinders even though they were empty," said Aritonang.

Last week, Aritonang even had a buyer from the Cempaka Putih Health Center. They called his cell phone to ask about the supply of oxygen cylinders.

Since two weeks ago, all the oxygen cylinders had run out, he could not accept the order from the Puskesmas.

"We closed it, all (the tubes) were used up, so we immediately closed. We also haven't received supplies from the factory since yesterday, even though my tubes have been placed in the factory," said Aritonang.