Duterte says face shields mandatory indoors, outdoors after more Delta variant detected

The national government on Monday required face shields mandatory  indoors and outdoors after the health department found more cases of Delta variant, the coronavirus variant first reported in India.

"Acting on the advice of health experts and in view of the Delta variant, PRRD declared that the wearing of face shields, both indoor and outdoor, is still mandatory," presidential spokesman Harry Roque wrote in a tweet.

During Monday's Talk to the Nation Cabinet briefing, Dr. Edsel Salvana of the Department of Health Technical Advisory group reiterated that strict protocols in all borders must be implemented to prevent the community transmission of the Delta variant, which can infect at least eight people.

He said incoming travelers must be in a quarantine facility for ten days. In addition, travelers must be tested on the seventh day.

Meanwhile, Salvana said the remaining four quarantine days may be spent home quarantined.

"In the Philippines, we already have 17 cases of Delta but all are incoming travelers. All protocols you have approved have caught all of them. We have to continue and make sure that we implement this nationwide because some cases may slip through if we do not implement strict protocols in all our borders," said Salvana.

Meanwhile, Dr. Anna Ong-Lim said during the briefing that studies are showing that eye protection such as face shields can prevent virus transmission.

She also cited real-world cases in India where community-based health care workers did not get infected due to a face shield policy.

For his part, the President said the face shield policy for indoors and outdoors will remain to prevent a second wave of the coronavirus disease in the country.

"When I mentioned about the face shield I was only shooting the breeze with the congressmen. I never said with finality that we will do away with the face shield. I will agree with you considering that this D variant is very aggressive and it can proliferate in so much period of time," said Duterte.

Prior to this, Roque announced in his press briefing that face shields are not mandatory worn outdoors unless a person is in a crowded area. 

Earlier, DOH said 17 cases of the more infectious Delta variant were detected in the country.—Consuelo Marquez/LDF, GMA News