Central Luzon hospitals get 100 Ebola suits

PROPER wearing of an Ebola suit demonstrated at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Alabang, Muntinlupa. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—The Department of Health (DOH) had distributed 100 sets of personal protective equipment (PPE) to three DOH-managed hospitals in Central Luzon, which are tasked with handling and to transporting patients with symptoms of the Ebola virus.

Dr. Jessie Fantone, regional epidemiology chief, said the 100 sets were sent to infection control units of the Dr. Paulino J. Garcia Memorial Research and Medical Center in Cabanatuan City in Nueva Ecija province, the Jose B. Lingad Memorial Regional Hospital in the City of San Fernando in Pampanga province, and the Bataan General Hospital in Balanga City in Bataan province.

These hospitals have put up isolation rooms for Ebola patients before they are taken to Metro Manila facilities for proper care.

The Philippines is still Ebola-free, top DOH officials said.

Teams from the regional hospitals are set to undergo training next week on how to wear, remove and dispose of the PPE, Fantone told reporters in a briefing on Friday.

The DOH website said 20 government hospitals and 22 private hospitals are involved in Ebola-related programs.

DOH imported the protective equipment, he said.

The World Health Organization recommended a particular model, which had been used in West African countries where outbreaks of the disease had been reported. Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon