Health Secretary Francisco Duque said President Rodrigo Duterte approved some P2 billion budget allocation for the protective gear of health workers working to prevent nCoV spread in the country, Tuesday.
Duque said each gear set has goggles, masks, gloves, headgear, and apron. It costs P1,500 each. He said the supplies will be distributed to public hospitals and are expected to last for three months.
“Kailangan protektado sila, hindi rin sila makahawa (they need to be protected too, they shouldn’t infect others),” Duque said of health workers.
The agency will also use the fund to buy vehicles to transport suspected coronavirus patients from provinces to government-referred hospitals.
Quezon 4th District Rep. Helen Tan also said it would also boost the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine’s (RITM) capabilities.
The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine is a health research facility based in Muntinlupa, Philippines. RITM is the only coronavirus testing facility in the country.
Fight against nCoV: Duterte approves P2 billion for health workers’ protective gear
“Maraming kailangan… The President said, by all means, kayo nakakaalam susuportahan niya,” Tan, chairman of House health committee said.
Tan also said authorities are considering the 10,000-bed drug rehabilitation treatment facility in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija, as a quarantine area for suspected coronavirus patients.
The death toll from the 2019 new coronavirus stood early Tuesday at 425.
News broadcaster TVB said on Tuesday that Hong Kong reported its first n-CoV death, which is the second fatality outside mainland China.
Local authorities reported the 39-year-old male patient had underlying illness aside from 2019 new coronavirus.
Hong Kong has had 15 confirmed cases, including one that was transmitted locally.
The first n-CoV death outside China was recorded in the Philippines.