FILE PHOTO: In this December 21, 2020, photo, a man and his companion wear face masks resembling the Philippine flag in Divisoria, Manila on Monday, as the IATF recently announced that wearing face shields along with face mask when out in public is now mandatory. INQUIRER/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
MANILA, Philippines — For now, the use of face shields will remain mandatory as an “added protection” to the public while not enough people have been vaccinated, the country’s pandemic managers said on Tuesday.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the government’s COVID-19 task force was not yet considering removing the use of face shields as a requirement despite calls to dispense with the requirement.
“Perhaps, once there is larger coverage of the vaccines, we can begin to study the suggestion to remove the face shield requirement. But for now, we request that we still use it as added protection,” Duque said.