(Eagle News) – Malacanang clarified on Friday, Nov. 19, that the use of face shields—while already voluntary in areas under COVID-19 alert levels 3, 2 and 1—could still be required by employers or business establishment owners to their employees or customers while inside their premises.
Presidential Spokesperson Karlo Nograles said that this modification is recommended by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).
“With regard to the voluntary use of face shields for areas under Alert Levels 3 to 1, it is hereby clarified that the same is without prejudice to employers still requiring their use for their employees/workers and/or customers in their respective premises,” Nograles said quoting the IATF recommendation.
He said that employers can thus require their employees to wear face shields while inside their work premises. Private establishments can also require their customers to wear face shields.
“That is within their discretion po,” Nogrates said citing IATF resolution no. 149.
All other issuances of national government agencies inconsistent with the memorandum dated Nov. 15, 2021 issued by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea containing the protocols on the use of face shields, shall be considered “amended” or “modified accordingly.”
“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, in the memo, 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.”
(Eagle News Service)