Enough personal protective equipment available, says Muddle

By LARRY ANDREW
MORE than enough stock of personal protective equipment is available, says Morobe health authority acting chief executive officer Grant Muddle.
Muddle said this in response to demands made by Angau Memorial Hospital staff last Thursday in relation to concerns about their health and safety. The staff claimed they did not have adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) when attending to Covid-19 cases.
Muddle said the province was prepared in terms of available manpower, skills and equipment and supplies.
He said there were over 38,095 masks, over 12,000 disposal mask, over 400,000 pairs of gloves of various sizes. “We have more stock arriving and have a 20ft container of stock donated by the Lae Chinese Business Association which should be cleared at the Lae Port on April 20,” he said.
“We’re also receiving PPEs and equipment from the India Business Association and stocks not added to the numbers mentioned were sent by the Government last week which is now with the Covid-19 team.
“So we do have a lot of personal protective equipment and a lot of training happening across the province – not just in Lae, but with health managers and disease control managers from each district.”
Muddle said they had been working on the plans and preparations since January and Morobe health authority started its Covid-19 preparedness at the end of January and so far, had 20 meetings led by Assistant Commissioner for Police Northern-End Peter Guinness and various partners and organisations in the city.
Muddle said a better plan could be put in place but it would not be realistic and the plan they had was what was available and deliverable.