EDP will deliver more than 500.000 individual protection articles to health professionals in Portuguese hospitals to reinforce support for the fight against the current pandemic. The material list, which began arriving this Wednesday, includes 500.000 surgical masks, close to 20.000 FFP2 masks (respirators) and 10.000 protective suits.

This offer aims to help meet the special needs of Portuguese hospitals for essential equipment for the prevention and treatment of the current Covid-19 outbreak. After contacting the Office of the Assistant Secretary of State and Health, which identified the list of priority personal protective equipment (PPE), EDP approved an investment of 500,000 euros for the acquisition and donation of these items.

All these materials are being delivered to the National Strategic Reserve in Lisbon under the care of the Portuguese Army, which has the mission of storing and maintaining this equipment until its distribution to the five Regional Health Administrations (ARS) -- North, Center, Lisbon and Tejo Valley, Alentejo and Algarve -- according to the needs of each zone and each hospital unit.

The materials will be delivered as they arrive in the country, with a significant proportion of the surgical masks, about 400.000, having already been delivered this Wednesday (the remaining 100.000 are expected to be delivered in the coming days). About 20.000 FFP2 masks and 10.000 individual protection suits are scheduled to be delivered starting next week.

Regarding the delivery of the first batch of goods, the Assistant Secretary of State and Health, Jamila Madeira, took the opportunity to thank EDP's solidarity initiative with the SNS (National Health System), together with those of several other entities. "In an extremely demanding context of demand by countries in all corners of the world, the equipment delivered represents a valuable help to the intense work that is being undertaken on several fronts in order to continuously be able to reinforce the protection of our health professionals, who are at the front line combating the Covid-19 pandemic across the country," said the Secretary of State.

“It is a small contribution to the great national effort that is being made to overcome this critical moment,” said the EDP administrator, Rui Teixeira, during the visit to the facility where the first 400,000 surgical masks were delivered, together with the Assistant Secretary for State and Health. “In this context of crisis, EDP assumed from the first moment a posture of social and corporate responsibility, a support that started immediately directly contributing to the needs of the NHS. This delivery joins other significant offers that EDP is making, such as the 50 ventilators, 200 medical monitors and other support material that will arrive in coming days,” joining several initiatives to support companies, suppliers and customers.