Use of face shield voluntary in areas under Covid-19 alert levels 3, 2 and 1, says Palace memo

Use of face shield still mandatory in areas under Alert Level 5, granular lockdown areas

(File photo) A registered teacher wearing face mask and shield against Covid-19, conducts a teleconferencing with stuggling students helping them in their school lessons through online distant learning at a local government-sanctioned online tutorial class in Taguig City, south of Manila on March 3,2021. (Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP)

(Eagle News) – The use of face shields in areas under COvid-19 alert levels 3, 2 and 1 “shall be voluntary,” according to a Nov. 15, 2021 memorandum from the Office of the President.

In a memo issued by the Office of the Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea on “protocols on the use of face shields,” it said that President Duterte “has approved the recommendation” of the Inter-Agency Task Force on the use of face shields.

The IATF recommendation is contained in its resolution no. 148-D (series of 2021) issued on Nov. 11, 2021.

The face shield protocols would be implemented “effective immediately.”

“For areas under Alert Level 5 and granular lockdowns, the use of face shields in community settings shall be mandatory,” the memo read.

“For areas under Alert Level 4, local government units (LGUs) and private establishments are given discretion to mandate the use of face shields,” it said.

“For areas under Alert Levels 3, 2 and 1, the use of face shields shall be voluntary,” it added.

Medialdea said that these protocols would not affect or “are without prejudice” to the “continuing mandatory use of face shields in medical and quarantine facility settings, and the required use thereof by health care workers in health care settings.”

Before the full implementation nationwide of the “Alert Level System,” LGUs have the discretion to mandate the use of face shields in their areas when these were still covered by community quarantine protocols.

These are except in areas under the previous Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) and in areas under granular lockdown where the use of face shields remain mandatory, Medialdea said.

 

Memorandum on the use of face shields issued by the Office of Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea. (Courtesy PCOO)

 

(Eagle News Service)