HOUSE Speaker Lord Allan Jay Velasco on Tuesday has urged President Rodrigo Duterte to reconsider the mandatory use of face shields as an additional protection against the coronavirus.
“The use of face shields has made little difference in protecting against the transmission of COVID-19 over the proper use of masks alone, and imposes an additional burden to poor Filipino families already reeling from the adverse effect of the pandemic on their livelihood,” Velasco said in a letter addressed to the Chief Executive.
Velasco, moreover, cited the World Bank’s COVID-19 Low Income Household Panel and Economic (HOPE) survey which shows that the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are visible among the “poorest 18 million poor and vulnerable households” which comprise 70 percent of the country’s population and are mostly residing in rural areas in Visayas and Mindanao.
The figure also presents that 56 percent of Filipino families has “less food on the table”—a situation which depicts the shackle of hunger and poverty in the country amid the pandemic.
“The cost of a face shield of about P20 to P50 is already a substantial amount equivalent to the cost of meal for these poor Filipinos, and mandatory requirement of the same takes away money for food from these families,” Velasco stated.
He further emphasized that the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended the use of face shields only for those who are directly in contact with, caring for, and/or assisting COVID-19 patients.
Velasco also mentioned studies of researchers from Wayne State University School of Medicine and the Philippine Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (PSMID) which indicate that (1) the use of face shields might be helpful but combining it with masks made little difference over the use of masks alone; and (2) it does not provide additional protection against “respiratory aerosol” existing in COVID-19 transmission.
The House official suggested that the face shield policy must be required only for hospitals and quarantine facilities—areas deemed enclosed with high transmission of COVID-19.
While somehow it can help, Velasco stressed that face shields more likely serve as additional environmental wastes rather than protection from COVID-19.
“The rest of the world universally considers the following as effective interventions to prevent the spread of COVID-19: proper wearing of facemasks, regularly washing or disinfecting of hands or high-touch surfaces, and ensuring proper ventilation in indoor spaces. Please reconsider our current policy that requires our poor kababayans to buy and wear a piece of plastic shield over their already masked faces,” Velasco added.
Epidemiology and health experts have been consistently reminding that there are no enough and solid evidence to prove that face shields highly prevent the proliferation of the virulent virus and contribute to the public’s protection.
The WHO also underscored that the imposition of the use of face shields in the country and its effectivity shall still be examined.
While the call to scrap the mandate has long been proposed, the administration and its forces managing the COVID-19 pandemic such as the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) and Department of Health (DOH) remain unfazed.
Earlier this month, Duterte has insisted that the policy will provide an extra prevention for the people regardless of how little the chances are and despite the inconvenience face shields bring which—at least to him—is “nothing” compared to getting infected or worst, death.
(PHOTO CREDIT: pna.gov.ph)