Philippines gets 650k face masks, other supplies from Jack Ma, Villar and Lucio Tan firms, D&L

The Philippines is expected to receive 450,000 face masks in the following days from Chinese billionaire and Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma amid a shortage of medical supplies in the country.

Aside from this, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said at a virtual press briefing that the Department of Health (DOH) has also received the following items on Thursday:

• 200,000 disposable surgical masks
• 4,596 bottles of ethyl alcohol
• 2,160 sachets of 25 ml and 1,440 sachets of 45 ml of liquid soap

According to Vergeire, the products were from the Villar Group of Companies, the Lucio Tan Group, and the D&L Corporation.

Meanwhile, the DOH has also sent 10,000 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) test kits to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine.

"Sa kasalukuyan ay bumibili ang DOH ng mga PPEs at tumatanggap ng donasyon. Sinisigurado po ng DOH na mabibigyan ng PPEs ang mga ospital na mga nangangailangan nito," Vergeire later said.

Confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country rose to 803 on Friday with 54 recorded fatalities. -MDM, GMA News