OVP hands out 7,350 sets of protective gear for health workers as fund drive reaches P17M

The Office of the Vice President has raised P17 million so far in its fund drive for the purchase of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for health workers delivering frontline services amid the coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement, Vice President Leni Robredo's office said that the amount was able to purchase 36,503 PPE daily sets for 2,433 frontliners good for 15 days.

Of this number, the first batch of 7,350 PPE sets have been distributed to 490 frontliners in Quezon City and Manila City hospitals as of March 17, Tuesday.

These hospitals include:

• San Lazaro Hospital, Manila (for 50 frontliners)
• Philippine General Hospital, Manila (for 100 frontliners)
• UP–National Institutes of Health, Manila (for 50 frontliners)
• Lung Center of the Philippines, Quezon City (for 100 frontliners)
• Philippine Heart Center, Quezon City (for 50 frontliners)
• Quirino Memorial Medical Center, Quezon City (for 50 frontliners)
• Philippine Orthopedic Center, Quezon City (for 30 frontliners)
• Veterans Memorial Medical Center, Quezon City (for 30 frontliners) and
• East Avenue Medical Center, Quezon City (for 30 frontliners).

In the same statement, the OVP said that it will distribute the other 29,153 PPE sets, good for 15 days, for other front liners in the coming days.

“Sa kabila ng mga limitasyon, patuloy tayong magdadala ng tulong sa mga ospital, kabilang na ang supply ng gowns at masks,”  the OVP said.

“Humihingi rin po kami ng paumanhin na hindi pa tayo makapag-deliver nang maramihan dahil sa limitasyon sa supply,” it added.

Given the situation, the OVP called for suggestions on how to secure more PPEs for frontliners.

“Kung may mungkahi po kayong mapagkukuhanan ng karagdagang PPE sets para sa ating frontliners, ipagbigay-alam sa +63 998 596 8820 o sa angatbuhay@gmail.com. Para sa mga nais pang mag-donate, magpunta sa: bit.ly/forCOVID19frontliners,” the OVP added.

The OVP also thanked Transportify at Ninjavan, its partners in delivery of the PPE daily sets. — Llanesca T. Panti/BM, GMA News