Acknowledging the need to stock up more medical oxygen supplies in hospitals, President Duterte said he will talk to Congress about giving tax relief to manufacturers.
During his prerecorded public address aired on Monday night, Duterte said the country’s hospitals should prepare additional oxygen since it is a “vital component” in the fight against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
“If it is really goes out of control, we would need all the oxygens that they can produce para sa mga tao (for the people),” the Chief Executive said.
Duterte recalled when the Philippines’ first wave of infections had seen some hospitals ran out of medical oxygen for COVID-19 patients.
“Kaya itong gumagawa ngayon, bigyan ninyo ng lisensya ‘pag tama lang (So for those who are producing it, give them license if appropriate). If everything is in order, bigyan ninyo na kaagad (give it right away),” the President said.
Just last week, World Health Organization‘s (WHO) Philippine representative Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe said there was a need to ramp up the country’s oxygen supply amid the concerns on the Delta variant of the virus.
In anticipation of an increase in COVID-19 cases, the government is in talks of manufacturers so it could buy more oxygen tanks.
Various agencies and local government units are already making preparations in case another surge hits country due to the local transmission of the highly contagious Delta variant.
The Philippines recorded 8,900 new COVID-19 cases on Monday after logging 10,623 on Aug. 6 and 11,021 on Aug. 7.
Health experts fear that the rise in the number of cases is because of the spread of the Delta variant that also drove a high number of COVID-19 cases in children.
First detected in India, the Delta variant is the driver of similar surges in Indonesia, Thailand, and other Southeast Asian nations.
In the Philippines, there are already 450 cases of the Delta variant. It has been detected in all 17 cities and municipalities in NCR, the Department of Health (DOH) said.
A total of nine deaths have been recorded due to the Delta variant as of August 6.