People line up to buy surgical face masks in a pharmacy along Osmeña Boulevard in this January 2020 photo.
CEBU CITY, Philippines—Lawmakers here are requesting the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) and the Department of Trade and Industry in Central Visayas (DTI-7) to continue closely monitoring prices of medical equipment and supplies.
Councilor Dave Tumulak made this pronouncement after health authorities in Manila reported four new cases of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Recent data from DOH showed there are now 10 patients in the country who tested positive for COVID-19.
“We’re requesting DTI -7 and DOH-7 to continue on closely monitoring medical supplies including PPEs (personal protective equipment) for our health workers,” Tumulak said.
The councilor, who chairs the city council committee on disaster and reduction risk management, said regularly checking price tags of medical equipment and other supplies is one way to protect consumer welfare.
“There must be price control for medical suuplies so as to protect our consumers,” Tumulak added.
On Saturday, March 7, 2020, DOH urged local governments nationwide to prepare for the possibility of sustained community transmission or when COVID-19 cases are reported without any links to previous ones.
The Cebu City Government, as well as the Cebu Provincial Government, were cited as among the first local government units (LGUs) to respond to the COVID-19 situation.
Global data
There are now 110,041 patients infected with the disease, which first emerged in Wuhan City in Hubei province, China.
South Korea remains to be the country with the most number of COVID-19 cases with 7,382 patients.
Italy, for a split second, surpassed South Korea in the morning of March 9, but the latter reported additional cases.
The number of COVID-19 cases in Italy now stands at 7, 375.
Meanwhile, the number of patients who recovered has increased to 61, 979, which constitutes over 50 percent of the total number of those infected by the disease.
The death toll, on the other hand, is now at 3,825. /bmjo