FACEMASKS FOR HEALTH WORKERS. A personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and a health worker are pictured together with sacks of donated face masks and boxes of bottled water on Monday (March 23, 2020). The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said they have distributed a total of 100,000 face masks and 100 boxes of bottled water to hospitals in Metro Manila after the department received the materials as donation from a "good Samaritan". (Photo courtesy of DOTr)
MANILA – Some 100,000 face masks and boxes of bottled water were distributed by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to several hospitals in Metro Manila to assist those in the frontlines of the war against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
In a Facebook post on Monday, the DOTr, through personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), gave 10,000 units of face masks and 10 boxes of bottled water each to 10 hospitals in the National Capital Region.
“Ito ay bilang pasasalamat ng kagawaran sa mga bayaning health workers na walang-sawa ang pagseserbisyo para sa bayan (This is to show gratitude of the department to heroic health workers who never fail to be of service to the country),” the DOTr said.
Among the hospitals which received the donations were the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, Lung Center of the Philippines, National Kidney and Transplant Institute, Philippine General Hospital, University of Sto. Tomas Hospital, San Lazaro Hospital, Medical Center – Manila, Medical Center – Ortigas, Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center, and Perpetual Help Medical Center – Las Piñas Hospital.
On Saturday, the DOTr said the face masks were donated by a “good Samaritan” who met with DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade on Friday.
"To the one who donated these hundred thousand face masks, I, on behalf of the DOTr and the entire country, express our sincerest gratitude. This will greatly help our frontline employees, and of course, our health workers,” Tugade said.
Aside from the donation, the DOTr currently provides free transportation to health workers in Metro Manila amid the mass transportation ban imposed during the start of the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon.
During the quarantine period, motorized land travel in Luzon is heavily restricted and must follow strict social distancing enforced by several checkpoints manned by uniformed personnel and local barangay officials, aside from restrictions on air travel which ban foreigners from entering the country except for those with familial ties to a Filipino. (PNA)
