DONATIONS. Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim (center), together with Interior Minister Naguib Sinarimbo (left) accepts the anti-Covid-19 equipment and supplies donation from Sapia Taulani (right), senior protection associate of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, during turnover rites held at the BARMM administrative center in Cotabato City on Friday (June 26, 2020). The donation included plastic tarpaulins with eyelets, N95 masks, patient care gloves, surgical caps, shoe covers, medical masks, and face shields. (Photo courtesy of BPI-BARMM)
COTABATO CITY – Nine more patients confirmed to have the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) were reported in Lanao del Sur and Basilan, raising the Bangsamoro region’s total recorded infections to 113, the regional health ministry said Saturday.
“Six of the patients were recorded in Lanao del Sur and three in Basilan as of Friday,” said Dr. Safrullah Dipatuan, chief of the Ministry of Health – Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
As of June 26, the total number of positive patients who remained in various isolation centers across the region is at 60, with 49 recoveries, and four deaths, he added.
Dipatuan said Lanao del Sur, including Marawi City, now has 75 Covid-19-positive patients, followed by Maguindanao with 21, Basilan, and Lamitan City with 14, and Sulu with three.
“Tawi-Tawi remained with zero Covid-19 positive cases,” he said.
Meanwhile, BARMM Chief Minister Murad Ebrahim and Minister of the Interior and Local Government Naguib Sinarimbo welcomed and expressed appreciation for the donation of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which included personal protective equipment (PPE), tents, and masks.
Sapia Taulani, a senior protection associate of the UNHCR, personally handed over the donations to Ebrahim during ceremonies held inside the BARMM regional government center here Friday afternoon.
“We (the BARMM alone) cannot address and face the challenges brought by the Covid-19 pandemic. We need the support of the donor communities, national government, and other UN agencies,” Ebrahim said in his speech.
He said international donors, such as the UNHCR, are swift when responding to the region’s needs, making their support contribute a lot to the efforts of the BARMM in containing the virus.
“We are not yet through with the challenges and still unclear when this catastrophe ends. Nobody knows, but we need to prepare for the future,” Ebrahim said.
The UNCHR donation included 100 plastic tarpaulins with eyelets; 1,110 pieces of N95 masks; 1,110 pairs of patient care gloves; 3,000 surgical caps; 3,000 pairs of shoe covers; 500 boxes of medical masks; and 4,740 face shields.
Taulani told Ebrahim that their partnership with BARMM would continue “as this is just the beginning of our renewed commitment in the region.”
Sinarimbo, meanwhile, said the UNHCR is also one of their first donors who provided tents and necessary equipment when accommodating repatriated Filipinos and put them in isolation facilities at Sibakel Island off Lantawan town in Basilan. (PNA)
