Duque nixes proposal to ditch mandatory face shield rule

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III (Photo courtesy of Department of Health)

MANILA, Philippines — Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Thursday opposed the proposal to scrap the mandatory face shield rule due to the low COVID-19 vaccination coverage rate.City of Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso earlier said the government should stop requiring the wearing of face shields for the general population.

“Ok [ang] mungkahi ni Mayor Isko kung malaki na vaccination coverage natin. Hindi pa pwedeng tanggalin ang face shield policy for now when our 2 – dose vaccination coverage is still low due to inadequate vaccine supply,” Duque told INQUIRER.net in a text message.

(The suggestion of Mayor Isko Moreno is fine if we already have expansive vaccination coverage. We cannot scrap the face shield policy now since our vaccination coverage is still low due to inadequate vaccine supply.)

“Also there are many scientific studies showing that face shields in combination with face masks and more than 1 meter social distancing provide a greater than 95% protection,” Duque added.

In a tweet on Wednesday, Moreno said the government should only require the wearing of face shields in hospitals.

“Dapat ipatigil na ang pag-require ng face shield sa general population at gamitin na lamang sa ospital upang makabawas sa gastusin at intindihin ng taumbayan,” the mayor said.

(We should stop requiring the wearing of face shields for the general population and instead use it only in hospitals to help reduce the expenses of the people.)

“Tayo na lang ata sa buong mundo ang nagrerequire ng face shield sa kalsada. Dapat pag-isipan ulit ito. Marami na tayong natutunan. We should adjust,” Moreno added.

(It appears we are the only country in the world that requires wearing face shields in the streets. We should review this. We have learned a lot. We should adjust.)

The national government started requiring the public to wear face shields on top of face masks at all times when going outside of their residences in December last year.

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