The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has called on local manufacturers to allocate medical oxygen supplies to Indonesia which has been besieged by a spike of Covid-19 Delta variant cases for the past few weeks.
At news briefing on Monday, Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said at least two oxygen manufacturers have agreed to send their excess output to Indonesia.
Reports stated that hospitals in Indonesia have ran out of oxygen, prompting them to refuse the admission of patients. Meanwhile, deaths have also been reported due to shortage of oxygen supply.
“Sabi namin kung may excess supply kayo, at may sigurado pa din kayong supply locally, ay pwede ho kayong mag-supply sa Indonesia [We told them that if they had excess supply and had enough supply locally, they can supply to Indonesia],” Lopez said.
Lopez said the DTI has already met with oxygen manufacturers and encouraged them to expand their capacity in the event that another Covid-19 surge occurs in the Philippines.
Three to four months ago when the country saw a surge in cases, Lopez said the country had an excess supply of oxygen. He estimated the excess anywhere between 20 percent and 30 percent.
“Pero ’yung kailangan natin ’yung preparation ng kung kailangan doblehin ang capacity nung ating mga malalaking oxygen manufacturer. Ang ginawa ho natin, inengganyo natin sila na mag-expand na in preparation for a possible surge [What we need is to determine if oxygen manufacturers needed to double their capacity. What we did is we encouraged them to expand (their capacity) in preparation for a possible surge],” Lopez explained.
Since last year, the DTI has encouraged the local manufacture and supply of medical supplies. The country has also been exporting medical supplies globally.
Based on Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) figures, the total export value for personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical supplies amounted to $1.61 million in May 2021.
This, however, represents a year-on-year contraction of 93.1 percent from the $23.36 million worth of shipments posted in May 2020. In April, the country shipped $2.74 million.
The export of surgical face masks contracted 98.3 percent and protective clothing at 19 percent, contributing to the decrease of export value for PPE and medical supplies in May 2021.
On the other hand, the export value for other face mask (non-surgical/non-medical masks including masks made of cloth) increased by 275.2 percent in May 2021.
Image courtesy of Nonoy Lacza