The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) received medical equipment and supplies from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) and a Taiwanese manufacturer here on Friday, boosting the agency’s capacity in the fight against COVID-19.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said the donations consisted of five oxygen concentrators from TECO and 100,000 surgical facemasks from MSK Group Work Inc., a Subic-registered business locator.

These will be used by the SBMA Public Health and Safety Department, which is the frontline unit in Subic managing the pandemic, she added.

Eisma personally received the donations from TECO Philippines Representative Michael Peiyung Hsu and MSK Group Work Inc. President Simon Su.

According to Hsu, COVID-19 patients who are classified as severe and require oxygen therapy will immensely benefit from the oxygen concentrators.

He added that these oxygen concentrators are convenient for use by patients, as well as health-care workers, because they are easy to move. One oxygen concentrator can simultaneously serve two adults and five children, Hsu said.

Eisma also expressed gratitude to MSK Group Work Inc., adding that the company, which started producing surgical facemasks in Subic Freeport last year, has been instrumental in ensuring a steady supply of facemasks in the country.

The SBMA has intensified its COVID-19 vaccination program recently with the support of business locators in the Subic Bay Freeport.

In the last two months, the agency received two biomedical refrigerators from Subic firms that brought Subic’s vaccine storage capacity to 40,000 vials, as well as upright freezer for ice packs used in vaccine carriers.

Eisma said the support from the private sector “has been invaluable in the fight against COVID-19 and in the efforts to keep Subic a safe place for productive economic endeavors.”