MANILA, Philippines — The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Thursday donated seven metric tons of personal protective equipment (PPEs) and other medical supplies to the Philippines to help in its battle against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
UAE’s donation of PPEs and medical supplies to the Philippines. Screengrab from the PCOO Laging Handa briefing.
Specifically, four metric tons of PPEs such as surgical gloves, face shields and shoe cover, and three metric tons of assorted medical supplies, the Department of Health (DOH) said.
These were formally turned over by Ambassador Hamad Al-Zaabi and Senior Political Officer Dr. Zakaira Hassan from the Embassy of the UAE in Manila to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, National Task Force against COVID-19 chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr., and Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr.
“We are very thankful for the support we received from the Government of the United Arab Emirate— an assurance that we are not alone in this fight,” Duque said in a statement.
So far, the Philippines has 10,343 confirmed cases of COVID-19, of which 1,618 have recovered while 685 others have died.