DOH, DILG urged to provide Ulysses evacuees with masks, sanitizers

Senator Risa Hontiveros on Friday urged the national government to provide Typhoon Ulysses evacuees with free face masks and rubbing alcohol amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Kung akala natin malala na ang sitwasyon ngayon, mas lalala pa kung magiging COVID superspreader ang mga evacuation centers natin. Para sa karamihan ng nasalanta, lahat na nga ay nawala sa kanila, tapos, magkakasakit pa sila? Tulungan natin silang umiwas sa COVID-19," Hontiveros said in a statement.

“We may have rescued them from dangerous flooding, but let’s not put them at risk of a dangerous virus," she added.

The opposition senator said Ulysses was worse than Tropical Storm Ondoy, which claimed hundreds of lives in the country in 2009, stressing that Ulysses happened in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic which has, so far, infected a total of 402,820 in the Philippines.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, meanwhile, urged authorities to ensure that the medical, and nutritional needs of evacuee children, including psychosocial interventions, were being provided.

He emphasized that local governments were mandated to integrate the Comprehensive Emergency Program for Children in their Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management plans and budget.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III earlier warned that COVID-19 transmission in evacuation centers was a "very strong possibility" and minimum health standards had to be enforced.

According to NDRRMC Executive Director Undersecretary Ricardo Jalad, 64,500 families, or 231,300 individuals, had been preemptively evacuated in Luzon before Ulysses hit.

An additional 44,194 families, or 170,500 individuals, were evacuated in rescue operations. — DVM, GMA News