DOST-9, partners produce, distribute 6K face shields

ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Department of Science and Technology-9 (DOST-9) and its Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SETUP) beneficiary, Zinex Zign Express, are producing some 6,000 newly designed face shields for the use of hospitals and front-line facilities in the region.

DOST information officer Bon Padayhag, said Friday the type of face shields they are producing is known as BLAZED (Beneficial Life Apparatus by Zinex Express and DOST), which allows users to quickly replace used shields and can easily be adjusted based on the user’s preference.

Padayhag said the new design is also cheaper and faster to produce and yields more face shields -- at 150 pieces per acrylic sheet.

Padayhag said a total of 1,140 face shields have since been produced, with 435 already released to the Zamboanga City Medical Center, Hospital de Zamboanga, a regional office of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), and the recently-accredited 2019 coronavirus disease (Covid-19) testing center of the Department of Agriculture.

Padayhag said more hospitals and isolation facilities here are set to receive the new face shields.

He said some 1,300 pieces of the new face shields will be delivered to the region's provinces and cities.

The initiative is part of the DOST regional office’s SAVES Program (Devising Operational Strategies and Tools to Safeguard Against the Virulent Epidemic Situation), which focuses on developing pragmatic solutions to be used in the fight against Covid-19.

Padayhag said Zinex Zign Express has shouldered the repair and maintenance or their equipment, utilities, operational and miscellaneous expenses, as well as the salaries of their workforce.

He added that the firm has also produced 1,100 washable face masks, which have been distributed to front-liners.

The DOST, in partnership with the Tzu Chi Foundation, has also produced 35 protective enclosures called “aerosol boxes” that are used by physicians in treating Covid-19 patients. (PNA)