EDC donates contact tracing/swabbing kits to Valencia LGU

MINERVA BC NEWMAN

VALENCIA, Negros Oriental – The Energy Development Corporation, a First Gen-owned corporation continuously assist the local government unit (LGU) of Valencia, Negros Oriental in its fight against COVID-19 by providing the town with 700 Universal Transport Mediums (UTMs) and 432 detection kits that it needs for its ongoing massive contact tracing and swab testing.

“Your recent donation of 432 kits of Sansure Detection Kits will definitely go a long way for the constituents of Valencia as we are relentless in our efforts in curbing cases of COVID-19,” Valencia Municipal Health Officer Dr. Cheryl Luz Eullaran thanked EDC.

Eullaran said that because of EDC’s help and donations, Valencia can further conduct COVID-19 testing as part of the mitigation activities of the community.  As the public health system capacity relies on detecting, testing, contact tracing and isolation, the need for the UTMs is essential, she added.

EDC has been providing Valentia town and Negros Oriental with COVID-19 assistance as health supplies are depleted due to the increasing number of COVID-19 positive cases in the province. It has recently donated COVID-19 supplies and materials to the town’s Birthing and Rural Health Unit.

Last year, EDC provided P11 million state-of-the-art RT-PCR machines and peripherals to help the province put up its own molecular laboratory, which was crucial in managing the spread of the COVID-19 virus. EDC also donated P5.6 million worth of RT-PCR kits and P1.84 million worth of Rapid Antibody Test kits to the province.

According to Norreen Bautista, head of EDC’s Corporate Social Responsibility team in Negros island that EDC will continue to help its partner communities in Valencia and the provincial government of Negros Oriental in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.

 “We, in EDC is committed to provide the uninterrupted supply of clean, renewable 24/7 power that our province needs for its green recovery,” Bautista said.

EDC’s 222.5MW Southern Negros geothermal facility has been generating clean, renewable power for Negros Island and for the rest of the Visayas region for almost 40 years to help build resilience amid the health and economic crisis brought abought by the COVID-19 pandemic, Bautista said.

EDC generates over 40 percent of the Philippines’ renewable energy output and serves about 10 percent of the country’s overall electricity demand with its installed capacity of almost 1,500MW.

Its 1,181MW geothermal portfolio accounts for 62 percent of the country’s total installed geothermal capacity and has put the Philippines on the map as the world’s third largest geothermal power producer. (Photos: EDC)