MANILA – President Rodrigo Roa Duterte approved on Monday the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to lift the mandatory use of face shields in areas under Alert Level 1 to 3.
“Ang decision ko is okay, tanggalin nyo na yung [face] shields. Pwede na ninyong (My decision is okay, you can remove face shields. You can), you dispense with the shields but not the (face) mask,” Duterte said in his prerecorded “Talk to the People”.
Duterte said face mask would remain part of the day-to-day safety measure “kasi matagal pa itong virus na nasa hangin lang (because the virus which is airborne will be here for a long time).”
He asked the public to ensure that the country’s Covid-19 positive rate continues to decline by adhering to health and safety protocols.
“You have to obey what the government will tell you to do because it’s for the good of the country and for you. Sumunod lang kayo (Just obey),” he said.
Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea released a memorandum on Monday explaining the voluntary use of face shields in areas with a relatively low Covid-19 alert level.
The use of face shields in community settings will remain compulsory in places under Alert Level 5 and granular lockdowns, according to the memorandum.
Local government units and private firms in areas with Alert Level 4 have the authority to maintain or eliminate the wearing of face shields policy.
People who live in areas under alert levels 3, 2, and 1 can voluntarily use the face shields as their added protection.
“The above protocols are without prejudice to the continuing mandatory use of face shields in medical and quarantine facility settings, and the required use thereof by healthcare workers in healthcare settings,” the order read.
To combat the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), the IATF-EID enacted Resolution 88 on December 14, 2020, ordering the public to wear full-coverage face shields on top of face masks in all public locations.
Following the emergence of the highly infectious Delta Covid-19 variant, Duterte ordered the public to wear face shields solely in hospitals in June this year, but soon opted to maintain the IATF-EID’s original policy.
In September of this year, he stated that the usage of face shields will be limited to the “3Cs,” which stand for “closed and crowded spaces, and close contact”.
