Within seven hours on June 21, Malacañang backtracked on its pronouncement on confining the required use of face shields indoors as part of health and safety protocols against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
During a midday press briefing, Palace Spokesperson Harry Roque said “what is clear is that face shields are no longer needed outside.”
But, in a tweet around 7 p.m., the spokesperson said, “acting on the advice of health experts and in view of the Delta variant,” President Rodrigo Duterte declared that wearing face shields indoors and outdoors “is still mandatory.”
Duterte confirmed this in his public address aired around 10 p.m. that day. He apologized to the Filipinos, saying the government has to “retain” the mandatory face shield policy given “the kind of aggressive infection” of new variants of the COVID-19 virus. Notably, he was not wearing a face shield during his address.
Almost a year after the government required individuals to wear the protective gear in indoor and outdoor settings, some lawmakers and local officials have called on local health experts to review the government’s mandatory face shield policy.
VERA Files Fact Check tracked the development of the government’s face shield policy, and how its directives changed — in some cases flip-flopped — over time.
A global team of public health experts convened by international nonprofit Meedan said there is “limited guidance for when or if the public should wear both face masks and face shields.”
The OCTA research group said it “supports” the government’s decision to keep the mandatory face shield policy, saying “the science suggests that face shields add about 9% additional protection” from COVID-19 transmission.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not recommend the use of a face shield alone as an alternative to face masks. (See VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Isko Moreno inaccurately cites US ‘CDC’ study on low effectiveness of face shields)
The World Health Organization said in its interim guidelines for face masks issued in December 2020 that a face shield “should not be considered as an equivalent to masks” in terms of the protection it provides from respiratory droplets, among the main modes of transmission of the COVID-19 virus.
However, the same guidelines suggested that face shields “may be considered as an alternative” for persons who are hard of hearing, as well as those with cognitive and respiratory impairment, keeping in mind that face shields are “inferior” to masks in preventing droplet transmission.
Sources
PTV Philippines Official Youtube Channel, PANOORIN: Press briefing with Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque | June 21, 2021, June 21, 2021
Radio Television Malacañang – RTVM Official Facebook Page, Kumusta Po Mahal Kong Kababayan | Meeting on COVID-19 Concerns and Talk to the People on COVID-19, June 21, 2021
Business Mirror, DOH: Continue wearing face shields, Covid cases are still increasing, June 3, 2021
Rappler, Review sought for mandatory wearing of face shields in PH, June 9, 2021
Manila Bulletin, DOH says face shield an ‘added protection’ vs COVID-19, June 5, 2021
Timeline Sources
- Department of Health, Omnibus Guidelines on the Implementation of Community Quarantine in the Philippines, May 15, 2020
- Department of Transportation, Memorandum Circular No. 2020-014, Aug. 3, 2020
- Official Gazette of the Philippines, Joint Memorandum Circular No. 20-04-A, s. 2020, Aug. 15, 2020
- Department of Labor and Employment, DTI and DOLE Supplemental Guidelines strengthen worker protection against Covid-19, Aug. 16, 2020
- Official Gazette of the Philippines, Resolution No. 68 Series of 2020, Sept. 3, 2020
- Department of Health, DOH COVID-19 CASE BULLETIN #173, Sept. 3, 2020
- Department of Health, Resolution No. 88 Series of 2020, Dec. 14, 2020
- Department of Health, MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR No. 2021-0007, Jan. 12, 2021
- PTV Philippines Official Facebook Page, WATCH: Press briefing with Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque | May 24, 2021, May 24, 2021
- Department of Health, DOH: FACE SHIELDS PROVIDE ADDED LAYER OF PROTECTION AGAINST COVID-19, June 4, 2021
- PTV Philippines Official Youtube Channel, PANOORIN: Public Briefing #LagingHandaPH | June 16, 2021, June 16, 2021
- PTV Philippines Official Youtube Channel, WATCH: Press briefing with Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque | June 17, 2021, June 17, 2021
- Sen. Tito Sotto Official Twitter Account, Last night, the President…, June 17, 2021
- PTV Philippines, PANOORIN: Symbolic Vaccination ng mga seafarers sa Palacio de Maynila, Roxas Blvd., Manila, June 17, 2021
- PTV Philippines Official Youtube Channel, PANOORIN: Press briefing with Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque | June 21, 2021, June 21, 2021
- Radio Television Malacañang – RTVM Official Facebook Page, Kumusta Po Mahal Kong Kababayan | Meeting on COVID-19 Concerns and Talk to the People on COVID-19, June 21, 2021
Meedan, About, Accessed June 25, 2021
Meedan’s Health Desk, How effective is it to use only a face shield to protect from COVID-19?, Updated June 18, 2021
Manila Standard, Face shield use science-based, says Palace, June 25, 2021
CNN Philippines, OCTA supports mandatory face shield policy, June 25, 2021
ANC Official Youtube Channel, Expert: Face shields provide additional 9% protection against COVID-19 | ANC, June 17, 2021
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Guidance for Wearing Masks, Updated April 19, 2021
World Health Organization, Mask use in the context of COVID-19: Interim Guidance, Dec. 1, 2020
(Guided by the code of principles of the International Fact-Checking Network at Poynter, VERA Files tracks the false claims, flip-flops, misleading statements of public officials and figures, and debunks them with factual evidence. Find out more about this initiative and our methodology.)
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