A TOP Palace official said President Rodrigo Duterte will issue a memo this week regarding the use of face shields.
“The President is supposed to issue a memo, perhaps it will come out this week,” Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said in a televised interview.
“A memo is forthcoming, para maliwanag. We are on status quo until the memo comes out,” Nograles added.
The memo on face shield use is deemed to break the impasse on the variation of statements issued by top government officials as to whether or not wearing face shields outside of homes is mandatory, and will be seen to become a national policy, says Nograles.
Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega said last week that there is no need to wear face shields when outdoors without crowds where there is low risk of COVID-19 transmission.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III, meanwhile, said that President Duterte has agreed that wearing of face shield should only be mandated in hospitals.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, on the other hand, said the President’s word is a policy but with no prejudice to an appeal from the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), the policymaking body of the government’s COVID-19 response.
The IATF ultimately recommended wearing of face shields in indoor spaces and in areas where there are crowds.