Gov’t eyes possible return of face shield policy amid Omicron variant threat

This file photo shows a mural in Singalong district, Manila, depicting a man wearing a face shield. Philippine Daily Inquirer/Marianne Bermudez

MANILA, Philippines — The government is eyeing the possible return of face shield use in the country amid the threat of the Omicron coronavirus variant.

During The Virtual Presser on Sunday, National Task Force Against COVID-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez was asked about the possibility of reimplementing the face shield use policy amid the threat of the Omicron variant.

“We will look at the possibility. ‘Yan nga inaano ni Secretary [Francisco] Duque. He is pro na maibalik ‘yung any protections na pwede natin gamitin,” Galvez said.

(Secretary Duque favors the return of protections that could be used)

“Kasi some people from WHO (World Health Organization) also believed na kaya nagkaroon tayo ng magandang result dito sa Delta as compared to others is because of also the added protection of face shield,” he added.

(Some people from WHO believed that we got a good result amid the Delta variant surge compared to other countries because of the added protection offered by face shields)

WHO advisers have earlier recognized the B.1.1.529 coronavirus variant, recently discovered in South Africa as a variant of concern. It was given the name Omicron, the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet, following WHO’s naming of coronavirus variants after Greek letters.

In the wake of the threat, the Philippine government ordered the suspension of flights from South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Mozambique until December 15 as they have local cases or with likelihood of occurrences of the new variant.

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