By RUFFIE CRUZ |March 26

Local doctors are appealing for donations from the public, as hospital supplies get depleted rapidly due to the growing number of patients treated for Covid-19.

Dr. Kristeen Garcia, a resident at Bay-pointe Hospital and Medical Center here, told Headline Zambales that they are now out of face masks, disinfectants, vitamins, and laboratory gowns.

“Kindly send help,” Garcia said. “We cannot afford a Manila-like outbreak here,” she added.

“We are also accepting DIY (Do-it-yourself) face shields made of acetate or plastic bottles,” Garcia, said. “DIYs may be substandard, but they’re better than nothing,” she said.

In Olongapo City, members of the Olongapo City Medical Society have likewise called on the public for donations of any form: cash, medical supplies, personal protective equipment, as well as food.

So far, public response is snowballing. Among these came from Ansbert Joaquin, a news writer and entrepreneur in Olongapo, who donated three handcrafted aerosol boxes made of acrylic sheets that medical workers can use to provide oxygen to Covid-19 patients.

With materials at his printing shop, Joaquin, who is also a safety officer of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, constructed the boxes from a design by Taiwanese doctor Lai Hsien-yung.

The device has two holes on one side through which doctors can insert their hands while being shielded from the patient’s respiratory droplets. — With a report from JOANNA ROSE AGLIBOT