DTRA and USAID staff give boxes of PPE sets to the Philippine General Hospital. Photo courtesy of the US Embassy in the Philippines.
MANILA, Philippines — The US government has donated P14.8 million worth of regionally-manufactured personal protective equipment (PPE) to the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) and other COVID-19 treatment centers in the Philippines, its embassy in Manila said.
In a statement on Monday, the US Embassy said the donation, which was made through the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and in coordination with the US Agency for International Development (USAID), brings the total of US assistance to the Philippines’ response to COVID-19 to nearly P981 million.
“This delivery of PPE demonstrates our ongoing commitment to the Philippines to stop COVID-19. During this month, which began with a commemoration of Philippine-American Friendship Day, we are honored to support our Filipino friends, partners, and allies with the PPE they need to assist communities confronting the pandemic,” US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim said.
According to the embassy, the recipients for this latest donation were determined by a “needs assessment based on pandemic infection rates, current PPE supply levels, and projected future needs.”
“We are proud to support brave Filipino medical workers to ensure they are safe and healthy while providing essential medical care to those affected by this deadly virus. We value our longstanding partnerships in the Philippines,” said Dr. Robert S. Pope, director of DTRA’s Cooperative Threat Reduction Program.
“One day, we will look back on these events and know that our partnership helped enable a robust response that saved lives and prevented further contagion in the Philippines and the surrounding region,” he added.
To date, the Philippines has so far recorded 69,898 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country. Of the number, 23,072 have so far recovered while 1,835 have died from the disease. [ac]