Isko urges gov't stop requiring Filipinos to wear face shields vs. COVID-19

Manila Mayor Isko Moreno on Wednesday urged the national government to stop requiring the public to wear face shields outside their homes amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Tayo na lang yata sa buong mundo ang nagre-require ng face shield sa kalsada. Dapat pag-isipan ulit ito. Marami na tayong natutuhan. We should adjust," Moreno said in a statement.

(We are the only country in the world which still requires wearing a face shield outside. We should rethink this. We have learned a lot. We should adjust.)

Moreno said face shields should only be worn inside hospitals.

The government late last year required the use of face shields amid the pandemic.

In April, the Philippine National Police said most of the violations encountered by police officers in implementing the health protocols was the failure to wear face shield.  

The Department of Health has said that bikers and other active commuters were not required to wear face shields amid "increasing reports" of arrests.

The DOH said several memorandums had made clear that people engaged in “strenuous activities/work, fine workmanship, operation of transportation vehicles, and active transport are exempted from wearing face shields” since these could cause “possible vision impairment.”

The Philippines has so far recorded 1,240,716 cases of COVID-19 including 1,167,426 recoveries and 21,158 deaths. —NB, GMA News