Man shot dead in Philippines for violating coronavirus cautioning
A man in Philippines on Saturday shot dead by police for not wearing a mask and arguing officers during a complete lockdown to halt the spread of COVID-19.
According to reports, police and military in the country was earlier ordered by the President Rodrigo Duterte to kill anyone violating isolation or causing trouble during the pandemic.
This was the first such case in the world where authorities killed a civilian for breaching coronavirus restrictions.
According to the local police, the 63-year-old man was alleged to have been drunk when he threatened village authorities with a scythe in the southern town of Nasipit in Agusan del Norte province.
“The suspect was warned by a village health worker for not wearing a face mask,” the police said adding that “But the suspect got angry, uttering provoking words and eventually attacked the personnel using a scythe”.
The government of Philippines ordered on Thursday all people across the country to wear face masks when going outside during its month-long lockdown.
The country has over 3,000 confirmed positive cases of the coronavirus and 144 people have died so far.
