LOOK: Robredo’s office collects P24.5M worth of donations to assist frontliners

Vice President Leni Robredo oversees the preparation of personal protective equipment (PPE) sets that will be delivered to another batch of hospitals on Tuesday, March 24, 2020. PHOTO FROM OVP

MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Leni Robredo’s office has collected over P24.5 million worth of donations from partner organizations which will be used to provide 52,000 personal protective equipment (PPE) to at least 3,484 frontline workers.

According to a statement from the Office of the Vice President (OVP) on Tuesday, these will be delivered to another batch of hospitals handling COVID-19 cases and patients under investigation for possible infection.

The OVP said that the funds were sourced from allocations to her office and from donation drives led by the Kaya Natin! Movement.

“The said amount, as of Monday evening, can provide for more than 52,000 PPE sets and other forms of assistance for 3,484 frontliners,” the OVP said.

Robredo has personally been in charge of the OVP’s assistance drive for frontliners in the fight against COVID-19, which has since raised more than P24.5 million, from her office’s funds and a donation drive spearheaded by its Angat Buhay partner, Kaya Natin! Movement. PHOTO FROM OVP

The PPE would be the latest aid that the OVP has provided to assist government in fighting the COVID-19 outbreak.  Recently, Robredo’s office handed out 17,400 PPE sets to over 1,000 frontline workers in 38 hospitals and communities, while handing P5.3 million worth of COVID-19 testing kits.

This, aside from giving healthcare workers affected by the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) transport services.

READ: OVP to distribute over P11.4M to hospitals, health workers amid spread of COVID-19 

As of Tuesday, the whole of Luzon is still under the ECQ due to the rising COVID-19 cases. The Department of Health said that there are already 552 confirmed cases in the Philippines, 35 of which have already died while least 20 have recovered.

Worldwide, over 370,000 COVID-19 cases have been recorded, while 16,228 patients have died, and another 97,677 patients have recovered.

READ: DOH: Coronavirus cases in PH leap to 501

The COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus that first emerged in China’s city of Wuhan in Hubei province in late 2019.

The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses named the novel coronavirus as SARS-CoV-2.

Coronavirus is a family of viruses, which surfaces have a crown-like appearance. The viruses are named for the spikes on their surfaces.