‘An accessory, not a necessity:’ Gordon backs easing of face shield protocols

In this photo taken on September 2, 2020, a Catholic woman lifts her face shield and mask as she receives communion during a mass inside a church in Manila.  Many face the new normal in the Philippines, where it is now compulsory to wear both face masks and plastic shields in indoor public spaces and on public transport to curb the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. (Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP)

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Richard Gordon on Friday backed the loosening of face shield protocols in the country, describing the item as an “accessory, not a necessity.”

“There’s always something behind it. Somebody’s manufacturing face shields, I don’t know. I personally go out with a mask, if I go to a hospital that’s where I use the face shield,” Gordon said in an interview on ABS-CBN News Channel.

“It’s really an accessory, it is not a necessity…It’s good to have that as an extra precaution but I would leave it to the public to wear face shields and require it only in dangerous areas,” he added.

Sen. Richard Gordo (Screen grab/Senate PRIB)

It was in December when the government’s pandemic task force required people outside of their residences to wear both face shields and face masks at all times.

Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso recently suggested that the mandatory face shield policy should already be dropped.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, however, said face shields offer an added layer of protection against COVID-19.

On Thursday, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said President Rodrigo Duterte agreed that face shields should only be worn in hospitals, which Malacañang later said is now considered a policy.

The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has recommended to Duterte to require the wearing of face shields in enclosed or indoor spaces.

‘Face mask is enough’

Gordon, who is also chairman of the Philippine Red Cross, said that the wearing of face masks is already “sufficient.”

“I make sure that I wash my hands regularly and I make sure there are people who will remind me, around me, and my children always remind me that I should be careful…This (face shield) extra accessory, it’s just like an extra bumper in a car,” the senator said.

“In the first place there’s a problem with disposal, that’s plastic,” he also noted.

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