Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) announces that the Inter-Agency Task Force for Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) starts the outline of face shield-use regulations.
DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya emphasizes that a sub-technical working group with partnership from the Department of Health (DOH) team-up to formulate regulations about the face shield usage. The new directive will align the minimum public health standards issued by DOH and the ordinances made by the local government units.
DOH adds that the guideline should recommend using a face shield in areas on alert levels 3, 4, and 5 and should be approved by eight government agencies.
Malaya still advises the public to carry a face shield when going out of their residence to visit enclosed and crowded places. Moreover, DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire suggests using a face shield when indoor and outdoor activities, including gatherings and personal care services.
Malls, wet markets, supermarket, and drugstores are the few of the places that require face shields since it is under the ‘3Cs’ category: closed, crowded, and closed contact.
Last September 22, 2021, President Rodrigo Duterte announced that the public is not obliged to wear face shields in places excluding the 3Cs. It is his response to the recommendation of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) of DOH to limit the use of face shields.
The Philippines is the only country worldwide that mandates wearing face shields aside from face masks.
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