COVID-19 Security Equipment Sold Out at NCR Hospitals

Last updated on May 13th, 2021 at 06:08 am

Healthcare staff are becoming more vulnerable to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Metro Manila hospitals, with stocks of personal protective equipment (PPE) running out as the number of suspected and confirmed cases continues to increase.

Dr. Rontgene Solante, Chief Executive Officer of the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP), expressed concern on Saturday that the current supply of protective equipment for medical staff in more than 60 private and public hospitals in the area would last only a week unless it had been replenished with additional government stocks.

Solante, also head of the Adult Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medine Division of San Lazaro Hospital, clarified that all COVID-19 isolation rooms at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) and the hospital for which he works are now complete.

He added that more people are now being admitted to private hospitals under investigation (PUIs), causing the said facilities to expand their COVID-19 isolation rooms and double the demand for protective equipment.

Many hospitals are currently dependent on donations from various NGOs, as their previous suppliers are no longer able to respond to their increased need, he said.

Solante said N95 and surgical masks, gloves, gowns, and goggles are most required by frontline staff who look after the COVID-19 cases.

According to the Foreign Affairs Department, the 10,000 sets of PPEs donated by the Chinese Government arrived in the Philippines on Saturday.