‘Cheap’ PPE sets will give health workers false sense of protection, says Galvez

Cheap personal protective equipment (PPE) sets will give healthcare professionals a “false sense of protection” in the workplace, the chief implementer of the government’s coronavirus response said Thursday.

Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. slammed critics of the government’s procurement of PPE sets worth P1,800 to P2,000 each.

“Maraming pong nagsasabi na ang PPEs is P400 lang o P600 lang. Alam niyo po, pagka sinuot niyo po ‘yun, mamamatay po ang ating healthcare workers dahil nagkakaroon sila ng false sense of protection,” he said in a virtual briefing.

“It did not undergo proper test and evaluation. Hence, we are risking their lives if we procure these very cheap PPEs,” Galvez added.

Senator Grace Poe was among those earlier who pointed out that the Office of the Vice President was able to purchase PPEs worth P400 to P1,000 only, following the Department of Health’s (DOH) announcement that it bought PPEs worth P1,800 each. 

Galvez stressed that the PPEs they purchased were medical grade level 4 and added that the procurement was handled by the Department of Budget and Management.

He also attributed the decreasing number of COVID-19-related deaths among healthcare workers to the PPEs purchased by the government.

“Since the government began purchasing and distributing these PPEs with medical grade level 4, there has been a great reduction of cases of deaths among our health workers,” he said.

The DOH said 2,165 healthcare workers have contracted COVID-19 as of Wednesday, 737 of whom have recovered while 35 have died. 

No COVID-19-related fatality among health workers was recorded between May 2 and May 10, according to daily reports from the DOH. The death toll has remained at 35 since May 11. 

Distribution of PPEs

Galvez said the government has earmarked P20 billion for the stockpiling of PPEs.

“Ito po ay dahil po sa pronouncement ng ating presidente na kailangang mag-stockpile na po tayo dahil alam na nating ang COVID ay mag-stay nang matagal,” he explained.

The first batch of the 11 million PPE sets will arrive on Monday, May 18.

Meanwhile, the one million PPEs worth P1.8 billion earlier procured by the government are being distributed to 699 hospitals nationwide. 

"We already distributed at least 200,000 PPEs across Mindanao and 263,000 for Luzon and Visayas. We are expecting another two hundred thousand PPEs that will be airlifted by our AFP C130 aircraft,” Galvez added. — BM, GMA News