Manila Mayor Isko Moreno on Monday declared as “non-mandatory” the wearing of face shields in the City of Manila except in hospitals, medical clinics and other medical facilities.
In issuing Executive Order no. 42, Moreno noted that as of November 4, the Inter-Agency Task Force for Managing Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) has already de-escalated the alert status in Metro Manila to Level 2.
Alert Level 2 refers to areas wherein case transmission is low and decreasing, healthcare utilization is low, or case counts are low or decreasing but total bed utilization rate and intensive care unit utilization rate is increasing.
In several news reports, Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano revealed that many government officials who are members of the IATF-MEID favor the removing the requirement to wear face shields.
“By the powers vested in me by law do hereby order that, pending the review of the Sangguniang Panlungsod of the city ordinance on the matter, the wearing of face shields in the City of Manila is non-mandatory except in hospital setting, medical clinics and other medical facilities which shall remain to be mandatory,” said Moreno in his E.O. 42 that takes effect today, November 8.
Moreno had earlier urged the national government to purchase COVID-19 medicines, specifically Tocilizumab and Remdesivir, instead of face shields.
Moreno had pointed out that the Philippines is the only country in the world where people are required to wear face shields in public on top of their face masks.
“Tolicizumab ang bilhin niyo. Remdisivir ang bilhin niyo. Oxygen, makina sa ospital ang bilhin niyo. ‘Yun ang kailangan ng tao kung talagang mahal natin ang tao, sabi niyo. Kung kayo’y para sa tao, sabi niyo,” Moreno told reporters last September.
The Aksyon Demokratiko standard-bearer issued the statement amid an investigation by the Senate regarding the government’s allegedly questionable purchase of P8 billion worth of pandemic supplies, including face shields.
“Kung bumili ka ng 1,000 na Tocilizumab at P25,000 that is only P25 Million. Kapag bumili ka ng 10,000 na Tocilizumab at Remdisivir wala ka pang 200 Million nayakap mo pa buong Pilipinas. So ako payo ko talaga sa kanila wag face shield ang bilhin ninyo,” Moreno explained.
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