DTI said San Miguel Corporation (SMC) will procure the initial 10,000 pieces of PPE coveralls and donate these to PGH.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 6) — The Philippines will mass-produce sets of medical-grade personal protective equipment (PPE) coveralls starting next week as health care workers grapple to attend to COVID-19 patients.
Inter-Agency Task Force spokesperson Karlo Nograles on Monday said the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) partnered with member-companies of the Confederation of Wearable Exporters of the Philippines to ensure there is enough gear to protect medical frontliners. Once the factories start operating after Holy Week, the country can produce 10,000 coveralls daily, he said.
“Raw materials for these will be shipped in by this week and roll out of production at the garment factories will immediately start after the Holy Week,” Nograles said in a virtual press briefing. He added the design prototype was approved by the Health Department and Philippine General Hospital.
This is the first time the Philippines will produce medical-grade protective gear that can be used in COVID-19 positive wards, operating rooms, and internal care units.
This will be on top of the one million sets of PPE procured by the Department of Health.
So far, 17 doctors have died tending to patients infected with the virus. The Philippine Medical Association (PMA) attributed these deaths to the lack of protection offered to healthcare workers exposed to the highly-contagious virus.
Several hospitals have appealed to the public to send in PPE donations after dozens of healthcare facilities bear the brunt of the global shortage of PPE. The county’s top fashion designers are also mass producing reusable protective gear for COVID-19 frontliners.
In the Philippines, there are 3,246 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 152 deaths, and 64 recoveries.
