Do away with face shields, Speaker Velasco urges Duterte

FILE PHOTO: People wearing face masks and face shields. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / Niño Jesus Orbeta

MANILA, Philippines – Citing the “doubtful efficacy” of face shields against COVID-19 transmission, House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco has urged President Duterte to reconsider the mandatory use of face shields by the public.

In a letter dated Sept. 20, Velasco cited local and foreign studies on the absence of medical proof that face shields were effective against COVID-19 transmission.

“The rest of the world universally considers the following as effective interventions to prevent the spread of COVID-19: proper wearing of face masks, regular washing or disinfecting of hands or high-touch surfaces and ensuring proper ventilation in indoor spaces. Please reconsider our current policy that requires our poor kababayans to buy and wear a piece of plastic shield over their already masked faces,” he said.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases requires the mandatory use of face shields outdoors and indoors.

The President has insisted on their use in the belief that face shields offered some defense against the virus.

Velasco cited a study by Wayne State University School of Medicine doctor-researchers that “indicate that combining the use of face shields and masks made little difference over the use of masks alone.”

A study by the Philippine Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases also said that face shields “[do] not give additional protection against respiratory aerosol.”