PHILIPPINES’ PRESIDENT ORDERS ARREST OF FACE MASK VIOLATORS

MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered police to arrest anyone not wearing a mask properly, including below the nose, as the country battles to contain surging coronavirus infections.

Duterte issued the directive after a meeting with his Covid-19 task force - where everyone except him can be seen wearing the mandatory face covering - an official video released late on Wednesday showed.

Thousands of people have been punished for violating Covid-19 rules since the end of March, when restrictions were tightened in the capital and surrounding provinces after a spike in cases.

The justice secretary and police chief have urged officers to fine offenders or make them do community service instead of arresting them, following the death of a man forced to do a hundred squats as punishment for breaking curfew. But Duterte said police should get tough on rule breakers and arrest those not wearing a mask properly including those who leave their nose exposed.

“My orders to the police are those who are not wearing their masks properly... arrest them and detain them, investigate why they are doing it,” Duterte said.

In another development, Duterte is asking China to take back 1,000 doses of donated Sinopharm vaccine after facing criticism for receiving a shot even though it has not yet been authorised for public use there. An unspecified number of Duterte’s guards have been injected with the Sinopharm jab in secrecy.