Quezon City to distribute protective gear to COVID-19 frontliners

QUEZON CITY, Philippines — The Quezon City government will distribute next week 2,500 sets of personal protective equipment (PPE) and 3,500 N95 masks to frontliners who monitor and transport possible carriers of coronavirus disease-2019 or COVID-19.

“We moved for the emergency procurement of disposable PPEs and N95 masks to provide adequate protection for our frontliners who have to deal with persons under investigation for possible COVID-19,” Mayor Joy Belmonte said yesterday.

“We are the first city to do this because we believe it is better to be safe than sorry,” she added.

Belmonte will lead the distribution of PPEs after the training of local health workers and barangay health emergency response teams on Tuesday.

She said the PPEs have a shelf life of three years and those that will not be used for COVID-19 response may still be utilized for other purposes.

Six PPEs will be allotted to each of the city’s 142 barangays; 445 to the Quezon City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (DRRMO), and 300 each to the city health department and three hospitals run by the local government.

A disposable PPE set includes goggles, N95 mask, surgical mask, laboratory gown, overall suit, protective footwear, gloves and headcap.

DRRMO head Mike Marasigan said only those with the certificates of training would be allowed to use the PPEs and help in transporting suspected COVID-19 carriers.

“We want to ensure that our health workers are safe from the virus,” he said.

The city government also procured an additional 3,000 N95 masks, 300 non-contact infrared thermometers for schools and six high-grade thermal cameras to be used by hospitals, city health department and disaster officials.