PRESIDENTIAL Spokesperson Atty. Harry Roque Jr. said on Sunday wearing face shields while jogging or biking are not yet being enforced pending evaluation and review by proper authorities.
Roque, also the spokesperson for the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, told joggers or cyclists could go on with their activities wearing only face masks.
“The Deparment of Health, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Labor and Employment and other government agencies will issue a consolidated advice to the public on the proper use of face shields when leaving residences, including inclusion or exemption as maybe as appropriate,” Roque said.
Joint Task Force Covid Shield Commander Cesar Hawthorne Binag, not the IATF, announced that joggers and cyclists should wear face shields on top of their face masks. Binag was a former president of the Table Tennis Association of the Philippines.
Binag’s announcement created an uproar especially among elite or national cyclists, who said wearing a face shield would be risky.
Doctors at the Philippine Center for Sports Medicine, who oversees national team members, do not favor the use of face shields for cyclists. They said that they were not consulted over the use of face shields while jogging or cycling.