Octa Research does not recommend face shield use so far

An elderly woman wearing a face shield boards a bus in Manila. (AFP File Photo)

MANILA, Philippines — Independent pandemic monitor Octa Research does not recommend the use of face shields so far despite the slight uptick in the Covid-19 positivity rate following the entry of the Omicron  variant in the country.

Octa Research fellow Dr. Guido David on Saturday explained that they support face shield use should a surge of COVID-19 infections be observed.

“During a surge naman, sinupport naman namin ‘yung paggamit ng face shield dahil siguro kahit papa’no baka may added layer of protection ‘yan,” David said on Teleradyo Balita.

(During a surge, we supported the use of face shield because it may add another layer of protection.)

“Pero sa ngayon, hindi pa naman siguro kailangan ‘yan,” he continued.

(Currently, I think it is not needed yet.)

The fellow said that the Philippines is far from having a serious surge as of now.

“Malayo pa naman tayo umabot sa medyo malalang surge sa ngayon kahit na magkaroon ng uptick kasi napakababa ng bilang ng kaso natin,” he noted.

(We are far from reaching a serious surge as of now despite the uptick because our daily cases are low.)

“I mean, kung umabot tayo sa mga a few thousand cases per day mula ngayon sa mga [200] to 300 eh medyo magiging serious na talaga ‘yung usapan dito. Pero sa ngayon, hindi pa naman agad-agad aabot tayo sa sitwasyon na may mga a few thousand cases per day tayo,” he further expounded.

(If we hit a few thousand cases per day from the current 200 to 300, we would have a serious discussion about that. But, as of now, we will not immediately reach a situation with a few thousand cases per day.)

The Department of Health on Friday noted that the Philippines’ COVID-19 positivity rate increased anew at 1.4 percent.

To date, the government has recorded three cases of the Omicron variant in the country.

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