Duterte: What's face shield inconvenience compared to catching COVID-19?

Video courtesy of PTV

President Rodrigo Duterte has defended the mandatory use of face shields in public areas as COVID-19 cases continued to climb.

"Itong face shield will provide an added premium of prevention. It might not really be a big percentage," he said in a taped meeting with officials that aired on Thursday.

"But even if it’s just 5 percent more protected because you have the shield, mas maganda na ‘yan. Ano ba naman ‘yang inconvenience [compared] to the fact of getting sick and probably die," Duterte continued.

(But even if it’s just 5 percent more protected because you have the shield, that's better. Anyway, what's that inconvenience compared to the fact of getting sick and probably dying?)

Battling one of Asia's worst coronavirus outbreaks, the Philippines has tallied 2.2 million cases, while overall deaths have reached 35,742.

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"Just be careful. We are put on notice that ang mga hospital natin punong-puno saka maraming namatay na sa atin... Let me just ask you to again exercise precautionary measures," Duterte reminded the public.

(We are put on notice that our hospitals are already full and many of us have died.)

Most other countries do not require the use of face shields on top of masks as a standard against COVID-19.

The World Health Organization earlier said it was reviewing the Philippines' experience in using face shields as an additional layer of protection against COVID-19

Manila City Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso earlier this month urged government to buy medicines to treat COVID-19 instead of face shields, last year's procurement of which is facing a Senate inquiry for alleged overpricing.

Duterte denied that the face shields and anti-virus masks were overpriced.

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His spokesman meanwhile rejected insinuations of a supposed link between the mandatory use of face shields and alleged corruption in government's procurement of the said item. He said personal protective equipment sets purchased by the previous administration were costlier.

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