Use of face shields, face masks still mandatory in public places

DAVAO CITY – President Duterte has backtracked from his previous statement saying the wearing of face shield should only be worn in hospitals following a meeting with Senate President Vicente Sotto III.

Sotto said the President agreed on suggestions that face shields should only be worn in hospitals. “The President agreed that face shields should only be used in hospitals. Allowed us to remove ours! Attn DOH!” he said in his June 17 tweet.

But Duterte on June 21 told Molecular epidemiologist Dr. Edsel Maurice Salvana during a meeting that: “I was only shooting the breeze with the congressmen, the members of Congress who were there. I never said with finality that we will do away with the face shield.”

“It’s a small inconvenience, actually. I know that it is inconvenient really to be wearing the mask, adjusting it from time to time. But that is only a very small price to pay rather than gamble with doing away with it and courting disaster. Kasi ang transmission, it’s accepted by all that it could be transmitted through the eyes and through the nose. So I am left with no recourse, but really to adopt your recommendation,” Duterte added.

Salvana recommended stringent protocols following the spread of the Indian Covid-19 Delta variant to the Philippines.

Duterte admitted he erred in publicly discussing whether to continue the mandatory wearing of face shields or not when in public places.

“But I’d like to tell you that beforehand, when I said, reviewing the international news, noong narinig ko ito, I said baka nagkamali talaga kami discussing about this in public because people thought that it was a done deal. No, it was not. It was just a casual chat. As of now, the face mask is on. Wala tayong magawa, the face shield, importantly, the mask.”

“Iyon na lang ang pangkontra ko kasi it is to the national interest, I said, that we must triple our effort because, I said, we do not know if it would require a new vaccine, which has to be invented first; and second, we cannot afford a second wave because it might be far worse than the first, and then we will have a problem of our economy, and I said it would be a disaster for the country,” Duterte told Salvana.

Duterte’s spokesman Harry Roque also defended the President’s decision, saying the continued use of face shields both outdoors and indoors is based on science and evidence-based studies, which show that face shields give an additional layer of protection against Covid-19. 

He said the decision on the mandatory use of face shields was made upon the advice of health experts who informed Duterte that the Delta variant is even more transmissible than the original variant. “Ninety-nine percent ang estimated effect of protection kapag naka face mask, face shield, at physical distancing,” Roque said, citing the results of international studies. “Ibig sabihin naka-base po sa siyensya itong desisyon ni Presidente sa pagsusuot ng face shield.” (Mindanao Examiner)

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