'This is not helping us at all': DOH slams lawyer's face mask remark
MANILA, Philippines — The incorrect remark of a lawyer with considerable following on social media that face masks do not work is not helpful, the Department of Health said as the country struggles to slow the spread of the new coronavirus.
“This is not a joking matter. Everyone knows there are people dying, getting sick, our economy is suffering,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a media briefing Monday.
Vergeire issued this statement after lawyer Larry Gadon, who was seen wearing a face shield with a face mask glued to it instead of covering his mouth and note, was quoted as saying he does not believe in wearing masks outdoor.
“Statements like this is not helping us at all,” the health official said, noting that some people might follow the lawyer’s belief and eventually get infected.
“Sino ba ‘yung huling sasalo sa magkakasakit? ‘The healthcare workers who are really suffering already. They are getting sick, they are being quarantined. Hospitals are having hard time already,” she added.
Masks work, experts say
In the government’s BIDA Solusyon campaign that aims to educate Filipinos preventive behaviors that will keep them safe against the pandemic, wearing face masks is the first item in its list. “B” stands for “Bawal ang walang mask.”
The country’s inter-agency task force on COVID-19 response also passed a resolution on the mandatory wearing of face covering whenever people go outside of their homes.
According to the World Health Organization, face masks should be used “as part of a comprehensive strategy of measures to suppress transmission and save lives.” Aside from wearing masks, the United Nations health agency also advised maintaining physical distancing, frequent handwashing and avoiding touching the mask and one’s face.
In a separate advisory, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that “masks are recommended as a simple barrier to help prevent respiratory droplets from traveling into the air and onto other people when the person wearing the mask coughs, sneezes, talks, or raises their voice.”
Vergeire said that scientific studies have shown that face masks can protect people from getting infected by 85%. The percentage rises to 99% if the mask is worn with a face shield.
The DOH called on the public to spread accurate information, instead of propagating misinformation.
“Sana lahat ng tao naiintindihan nila kung ano ‘yung implikasyon kapag nagsasalita sila sa public because people might be following them and this is not the right way to go. Magkakasakit ang mga tao,” Vergeire said.
(I hope everyone understands the implication of their words in public people might be following them and this is not the right way to go. People will just get sick.)
The novel coronavirus has so far infected 161,253 people in the Philippines. Of the figure, 112,586 have recovered and 2,665 have died.
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