
The Octa Research Group said that it is not yet recommending the use of face shields again amid the threat of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David said that the wearing of a face shield is advisable if the country once again experiences a surge in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases.
"During a surge naman, sinupport naman namin yung paggamit ng face shield dahil siguro kahit papaano baka may added layer of protection yan. Pero in a non-surge situation pwede naman alisin yan (During a surge, we support the use of a face shield because somehow there is an added layer of protection. But in a non-surge situation, that can be removed)," said David in an interview over ABS-CBN Teleradyo on Saturday, Dec. 25.
"Sa ngayon, hindi pa naman siguro kailangan iyan. Malayo pa naman tayo umabot sa medyo malalang surge sa ngayon kahit na magkaroon ng uptick kasi napakababa ng bilang ng kaso natin (Currently, that's not yet necessary. We're still a long way from experiencing a relatively severe surge—even if there's an uptick—because our number of cases is still very low)," he added.
David on Friday said that they are "seeing an uptick in the positivity rate" in Metro Manila "but this may be due to the holidays."
"We will have more clarity by January 2022," he then added.
READ: OCTA sees ‘uptick’ in Metro Manila’s COVID-19 positivity rate
He said that once the Philippines' daily number of cases increased to over a thousand, then the situation can be tagged as "serious."
"I mean, kung umabot tayo sa mga a few thousand cases per day mula ngayon sa mga to 300 eh medyo magiging serious na talaga yung usapan dito. Pero sa ngayon, hindi pa naman agad-agad aabot doon tayo sa sitwasyon na may mga a few thousand cases per day tayo (I mean, if we reach a few thousand cases per day from the current to 300---then the situation will be serious. But for now, we won't get to that situation right away where we will have a few thousand cases per day)," said David.
David urged the public to get vaccinated and strictly follow the minimum public health standards.