IATF drafting new guidelines on face shields use after Duterte's directive

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) is crafting new guidelines regarding the use of face shields after President Rodrigo Duterte's latest directive, an official of the Department of the Interior and Local Government said on Saturday.

DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III said in an interview on Dobol B TV that while the guidelines have not yet been finalized and issued, the public can already do without wearing face shields, but only in areas that are not closed, crowded, and allow for close contact.

“Ang sabi nga natin it’s a work in progress habang ini-implement ang alert level system, may nakita tayong pagbabago na gagawin. So napag-usapan ito [face shield guidelines] initially noong Huwebes. Pero bibigyan natin ng ilang araw bago umupo sa joint meeting ang IATF technical working group and sub-technical working group on data analytics para gawin natin ang changes and clarifications sa alert level system,” he said.

(Our alert level system is a work in progress and while we are implementing this, there are some adjustments to be made. So this face shield policy is part of the adjustments and we will wait for a few days before we can hold a joint meeting with the IATF technical working group and the sub-technical working group on analytics to introduce changes and clarifications on the alert level system.)

“Malinaw po ang direktiba ni Presidente dalawang araw na ang nakakaraan noong kanyang dineclare na puwede na lumabas kahit walang face shield. Binanggit niya naman kailangan while it is implementatable two days ago, kailangan pa rin gamitin kapag may 3Cs,” he added.

(The directive of the President two days ago was clear that people can go out even without the face shield. He mentioned that while it is implementable, we still need to use it if we are in 3Cs.)

Duterte on Wednesday announced that face shield requirements have been relaxed to apply only to 3Cs — closed, crowded, close-contact.

The Department of Health on Friday said it is working on revisions to the face shield policy.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the revisions would have to be approved by eight government agencies, including the DOH. —with a report from Hana Bordey/KG, GMA News