A TOTAL of 200,000 sets of personal protective equipment (PPE), intended for Mindanao hospitals, onboard a Philippine Navy ship Barko ng Republika ng Pilipinas (BRP) Bacolod City (LS550) procured from China arrived at Sasa Wharf, Sasa, Davao City on Friday morning, May 8.
Based on the report from the Naval Eastern Mindanao, BRP Bacolod City ferried the thousands of PPE from Zhangzhou Harbor, Port of Xiamen, People’s Republic of China last April 21 going to the city.
The supplies were procured by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for the Department of Health (DOH).
NFEM commander Commodore Antonio Palces was present during the arrival to observe social distancing and complete PPE. The Bureau of Quarantine personnel also conducted inspection and sanitation of the PPE to ensure its safety from coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Davao will lead the operation of the activity from hauling to the distribution of PPE in coordination with the Eastern Mindanao Command (EMC), NFEM, and other government agencies.
In a virtual presser on Tuesday, May 5, DOH-Davao Assistant Regional Director Dr. Lenny Joy Rivera said that the 200,000 PPE kits are complete from head to toe and will be distributed to the regions in Mindanao.
In Davao Region, all hospitals who requested for PPE through their online PPE tracker will be provided. There is a total of 15,500 PPE allocated for the hospitals in the region, which will be distributed Saturday, May 9.
“Lahat ng nag request doon bibigyan ng allocations through the OCD. Based on the IATF, OCD is the one in charge of logistics,” Rivera said.
Rivera assured that all provinces in the region will be given PPE especially those with Covid-19 patients admitted in their facilities.
She added that SPMC will receive 6,000 PPE.
Meanwhile, SPMC’s Training Chief Dr. Maria Elinore Concha expressed her gratitude to the government for its support to SPMC frontliners. The hospital of SPMC is an identified Covid-19 referral center.
Concha added that there is still a sufficient supply of PPE in their hospital and with the arrival of a new batch of PPE, it will help their frontliners protect themselves from contracting the disease.
“Our Mayor (Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio) made sure na provided talaga si SPMC. Apart from that, we are receiving donations parin and in fact even USAID has told us that they will coordinate with us for PPE donation,” she said.
She added, “So far, based on our recent inventory, because we regularly report to DOH, our supplies naman are okay.”