People will no longer be required to wear face shields outdoors.
This after President Rodrigo R. Duterte approved the recommendation of medical experts last Wednesday to lift the mandatory wearing of face shields for people once they leave their homes.
He said wearing face shields will now only be required in closed and crowded areas and in case they will be engaged in an activity that will require them to have close contact with other people, like in hospitals and public transport.
Duterte ordered the immediate release of the new guidelines for the wearing of face shields.
Last June, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) already recommended to Duterte easing face shield requirements.
Duterte, however, decided to retain the strict mandatory wearing of face shields after incidents of Delta variants of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) were detected in the country.
During his public address last Wednesday, Duterte admitted his decision was a knee jerk reaction since he wanted to minimize the exposure of the public from the Delta variant.
“I was afraid of the Covid Delta [variant]. I got so scared that I ordered the reimposition of the face shields,” Duterte said.
Duterte said he decided to finally reconsider his position on face shields upon the recommendation of the IATF technical advisory group.
