MANILA, April 6 (Xinhua) -- Amid reports of shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) in Philippine hospitals, a young fashion designer has spent the past three weeks of a month-long nationwide lockdown to design much-needed personal protective suits and face masks for doctors and nurses battling the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I want to boost the morale of the frontline health care workers amid the chaos," 30-year-old designer Ram Silva told Xinhua in a telephone interview on Monday, saying it is his little contribution to uplift the spirits of the frontliners he called as the "COVID Armies."
Medical and healthcare groups have repeatedly called for donations of PPEs for the country's frontlinersas the supplies are dwindling amid the rapid spike of the COVID-19 cases in the country.
The Philippine Medical Association has previously said deaths could have been prevented if there was enough supply of PPEs. The association has recorded 17 doctors who have died while in the frontline battling the COVID-19.
Silva has so far distributed more than 100 water-proof red hazmat suits, inspired by the revolutionary-red overalls worn by a gang of criminals in the Spanish global blockbuster Money Heist, to 10 hospitals in the central Philippine city of Iloilo.
A further 500 suits will be delivered to other hospitals in coming days, Silva said.
Silva previously made 500 masks for frontline health workers and policemen, and the Iloilo City Hall community kitchen workers and street sweepers, using fabrics from his studio.
The donations have been warmly received by doctors and nurses, as well as by city government officials and members of the public.
Silva won praises from netizens after he posted pictures of health workers of Western Visayas Medical Centre in "RamCouture PPE hazmat suit."
The Philippines continues to grapple with rising cases of the disease. The Department of Health (DOH) reported 414 new cases on Monday, bringing the total number of the cases in the country to 3,660.
The DOH also reported that the number of deaths has increased to 163, and 73 have recovered.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the number of the COVID-19 cases tallied so far does not indicate a trend yet. "We cannot interpret yet if the cases have gone down or up," she added.
Vergeire further said the Philippines will start the daily production of 10,000 medical-grade PPE coveralls for healthcare workers next week.
