Ako Bicol donates P10M medicines to hospitals

MEDICAL SUPPLIES. Ako Bicol Reps. Elizaldy S. Co and Alfredo S. Garbin turnover to Catanduanes acting governor Shirley Abundo the PPE, testing kits and face shields for medical frontliners in the island province of Catanduanes. Rhaydz B. Barcia

VIRAC, Catanduanes ---The P10 million worth of medical supplies bought by the Ako Bicol partylist for donation to 14 hospitals in the region to fight the acoronavirus disease (Covid-19) have finally arrived on Monday, Apr.20.

Congressmen Elizaldy “Zaldy” S. Co and Alfredo “Pido” Garbin of Ako Bicol personally delivered the medical supplies in the island province of Catanduanes aboard a helicopter as soon as the P10 million worth of medical supplies and testing kits arrived in Legazpi City.

Co and Garbin along with Dr. Christopher Gianan delivered the personal protective equipment (PPE), face shields, facemasks and testing kits to start the free testing for the islanders specifically the family a Covid-19 positive said to be staying in their home.

Co said Ako Bicol purchased P10 million worth of PPE, test kits, facemasks, face shields including disinfectant and sprayer with booster pumps from Japan, which are intended for distribution to Bicol hospitals and rural health units in the region.

The 14 hospitals which will receive the medical supplies are the: Bicol Regional Training and Teaching Hospital; Legazpi City Hospital; Josefina Belmonte Duran District Hospital; Ziga District Hospital; UST Hospital; and Albay Doctor's Hospital, all in Albay.

Other recipient hospitals are: Bicol Medical Hospital in Naga City; Bicol Sanitarium in Sipocot,Camarines Sur; Masbate Provincial Hospital; Sorsogon provincial hospital; Fernando Duran Hospital; and Matnog Municipal Hospital, all in Sorsogon; Camarines Norte Provincial Hospital; and Eastern Bicol Medical Center in Catanduanes.

Co is pushing for massive testing of Bicolanos specifically person under investigations to identify the Covid-19 positive to prevent further rise of cases.

“We want to have rapid testing and encourage local government units (LGU) to do the same and use their funds to check if who the coronavirus disease positive in their locality is,” Co said.

He said that the Ako Bicol purchased one tons of anti-coronavirus disease gears such as 42,000 facemasks, 1,500 personal protective equipments (PPE), 500 face shields and 2,500 rapid testing kits.

Co said the testing kits bought by Ako Bicol will be given free and it will take 10 minutes to know the result. The testing kits are effective for those who have symptoms or PUI.

Co and Garbin turned over the free medical supplies to acting Catanduanes Gov. Shirley Abundo in the presence of other local officials.

“We can’t just be paralyzed and wait for Covid-19 to harm us. This is painful to our economy and worst it claimed the precious lives of almost 164,000 persons and infected more than 2 million people around the world. That’s why we must observe social distancing, use facemasks and practice the new normal to fight Covid,” Co said.

For his part, Rep. Alfredo Garbin said the free testing kits, PPE, face mask, and face shields are intended for EBMC, Catanduanes PHO and Virac town.

“Let’s aim to test those who were exposed to the first Covid-19 positive in Catanduanes and immediate contact tracing to avoid widespread transmission in the island,” Garbin said.

The Ako Bicol lawmakers expressed apprehension following report that the single Covid-19 positive in Catanduanes is in home quarantine along with his family, which might spread the virus among the members of the family.

Co told Abundo that they can request additional medical supplies from Ako Bicol when the need arises.

Abundo expressedgratitude to the Ako Bicol lawmakers for providing free medical supplies to Catanduanes medical frontliners.

adding that cases in the region have not reached that level yet.

He said to prevent the number of cases from rising, local government units have to further intensify the ECQ enforcement. (PNA)