Face shields should not be discarded first because voters who will flock to the estimated 105,000 voting precincts in the National and Local Elections on May 9 will still have to wear them, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
“We are looking at 105,000 precincts. That is up from only around 80,000 nung nakaraang halalan 2019,” said Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez.
As in previous elections, the Comelec will still use classrooms in public schools as precincts. However, he said they would implement strict social distancing so that the election does not become a ‘super spreader’ of the virus.
“‘Di kayo papayagan bumoto nang hindi kayo naka-face mask and unfortunately nang hindi kayo naka-face shield,” said Jimenez.
The commission expects many to complain about wearing the face shield, but while the commissioners do not remove it from the rule, they say it must be followed.
Voters required to wear face shields at precincts – Comelec
On November 21, Mayors in Metro Manila agreed to make wearing face shields optional.
According to Trade Undersecretary Ruth Castelo, moviegoers can remove their face shields, but they must always wear their face masks.
If the moviegoer also wants, they can also wear their face shield while watching.
The OCTA Research Group, which conducts studies on COVID-19 data, previously supported the proposal to remove face shields inside cinemas.
Earlier, the Department of Health said, “benefits of using face shield or face mask or both as published in various studies1 suggest that one may offer better protection than the other on specific scenarios or depending on the size of particulate matter the protective equipment is blocking. One of the studies further underscores that the use of face shields alone would be inadequate, but the use of both face mask and shield can provide better protection against infections.”
“A study by Bhaskar and Arun (2020) among community health workers in India, suggests that, after the introduction of face shields to 50 of the health workers who counseled 118,428 persons in May 2020, none of the healthcare workers were infected with COVID-19,” it added.
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