DOH: mandatory face shield policy backed by local study

by Angelica Dela Cruz

In a May 28 press briefing, Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire insisted that there is sufficient scientific basis for the imposed mandatory use of face shields in public.

This was after the effectiveness of the government’s policy in mitigating the spread of COVID-19 was questioned by health experts, including the wearing of face shields. DOH responded by citing an undisclosed local study and adding it to the list of research journals they used as a basis for the face shield policy.

The study, which Vergeire said will be available to the public soon, was conducted by Dr. Antonio Dans from the UP College of Medicine and Dr. Maya Herrera of the Asian Institute of Management. It measured how non-pharmaceutical interventions can help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“Pinag-aralan nila itong mga non-pharmaceutical interventions at kung paano ito nakaka-protekta sa mga tao laban sa COVID-19,” Vergeire said.

(They studied these non-pharmaceutical interventions and how these protected people against COVID-19.)

Vergeire said that according to the study, wearing both face masks and face shields in public helps reduce the risks of transmission by 93 percent. If done while maintaining a one-meter distance from people, the risk is reduced by 99 percent. Using only a face mask while keeping one and two meters distance, lessens the risks by 94 percent and 97 percent, respectively.

Dr. Benjamin Co, who specializes in infectious diseases, toxicology and clinical pharmacology said that the medical journal from India which contains the studies DOH endorsed last year as the basis for the policy was not a complete, “well-controlled study.”

In the same article, Dr. Gideon Lasco from the UP Diliman Department of Anthropology, added that the mandatory face shield policy is “baseless, inconvenient and environmentally harmful.”

Last Dec. 14, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) released a resolution requiring all Filipinos to wear both face shields and face masks whenever they left their residences.