MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Health (DOH) is in search of planes bigger than the Philippine Air Force’s C-130 workhorses to transport more quickly the remaining sets of personal protective equipment (PPE) badly needed by health workers on the frontline of the fight against novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said on Thursday (April 2) that his department was looking for bigger planes to transport the remaining 985,000 sets of PPE from China.
On Tuesday (March 31) night, 15,000 sets of PPE arrived at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City, the first batch of the 1 million PPE sets that the Philippine government had purchased for P1.8 billion.
The full delivery is expected on April 24.
“We are currently using a C-130 plane to transport these PPE, and one flight can accommodate 15,000 (sets of) PPE,” Duque said.
“The team is trying to arrange for a bigger plane to transport the PPE to health care workers faster. We are working with the aviation industry to see what can be done,” he said.
Each PPE set consists of an N95 mask, goggles, coveralls, head cover, shoe cover, surgical mask, gloves, and surgical gown.
The first batch of PPE was distributed by the Office of Civil Defense to the AFP Medical Center, East Avenue Medical Center, San Lazaro Hospital, Lung Center of the Philippines, Philippine General Hospital and Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital.