Apparel exporters to produce 10,000 personal protective equipment daily

MANILA, Philippines — Around 10,000 personal protective equipment (PPE) can be produced in a day after apparel exporters in the country committed to start local production, the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease said Monday.

IATF spokesperson and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said the goal is attainable with support from the Confederation of Wearable Exporters of the Philippines (CONWEP).

“Raw materials for these will be shipped in by this week and the roll out of production at the garment factories will immediately start after the Holy Week,” Nograles said in a virtual briefing.

“Once operational, these factories will be able to produce 10,000 PPEs a day,” he noted.

Nograles said the member-companies of CONWEP designed the prototype of these PPEs and were approved by the Department of Health (DOH) and the Philippine General Hospital (PGH).

Nograles emphasized these PPE “be used even in high COVID-risk hospital situations such as operating rooms, COVID 19 positive wards, and ICUs [Intensive Care Unit].”

The DOH, last week, said it has purchased a million sets of PPE worth P1.8 billion. Each set includes a headgear, googles, N95 mask, apron and a gown.

Due to a medical supplies shortage, several hospitals and healthcare facilities have been asking for donations as they combat the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis in the country.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1246994/ph-lung-center-appeals-for-donations-as-ppe-supplies-run-out

This prompted some individuals to create improvised face masks and even face shields for hospital workers to prevent their exposure to COVID-19 while in line of duty. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1246237/diy-face-shields-aid-health-workers-in-west-visayas

As of Sunday, there are 3,246 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 152 fatalities and 64 recoveries. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1254172/doh-reports-152-new-covid-19-cases-eight-more-deaths