By Martin Sadongdong
The Philippine government received cot beds and face masks from the United States and India amid the continuing fight against the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19), officials said Friday.
(NTF COVID-19 via Martin Sadongdong / MANILA BULLETIN)
In behalf of the national government, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) received 1,300 pieces of cot beds from the US government in a turnover ceremony held at the Embassy of the United States in Roxas Boulevard, Manila.
OCD Administrator Ricardo Jalad said 1,100 units will be managed by the Office for virus patients while the remaining units will be delivered to the Department of Health which will be allocated for the health workers at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH).
The donation was coursed through the US Embassy to the Philippines and the Joint US Military Assistance Group (JUSMAG).
Present during the turnover ceremony were US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim; Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr.; Rear Admiral Alberto Carlos, Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics of the Armed Forces of the Philippines; and Colonel Stephen Ma, JUSMAG chief.
Meanwhile, 150,000 pieces of KN95 and N88 face masks worth P12 million were turned over to the OCD by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Indian community in the Philippines.
Indian Ambassador to the Philippines Jaideep Mazumdar led the turnover of the donations to the OCD last Thursday.
The event was witnessed by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, chairman of the National Task Force (NTF) COVID-19; Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez Jr., chief implementer of the National Action Plan (NAP) against COVID-19; OCD's Jalad; FICCI Chairman Rex Daryanani; and FICCI President Mike Advani.
The donations from the US and Indian governments came as the country continues to find ways to contain the virus which has already infected 4,076 people, of which 203 have died while 124 others have recovered as of Thursday.