Face shields mandatory for all workers: Manila official

MANILA: A senior cabinet official ordered the mandatory use of face shields on top of face masks for all workers to prevent the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus ( COVID-19) pandemic amid protests it would mean extra expenses for them.

“Based on the resolution of the IATF (InterAgency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases) not only would workers be required to use face masks but also face shields. That’s the new protocol,” said Labour Secretary Silvestre Bello.

Bello emphasised that employers should provide their workers with face shields which is to take effect on Aug.15 as he explained: “You only have to buy it once and it doesn’t cost that much.”

But even before Bello could make the official announcement, word apparently leaked out resulting in a mad scramble for the purchase of face shields that led to increasing complaints of overpricing by vendors.

In the city of Manila, for instance, reports were that vendors were selling face shields by as much as $2 each as against the equivalent of 50 US cents when Bello issued the order for its mandatory use.

But high end versions with head and thick acrylic cover cost as much as $8, resulting in a warning to vendors, the head of Manila City Hall permits section, against overpricing.

Meanwhile, Bello pointed out that employees who have no face shields would be denied entry to the workplace as he warned owners would also be held administratively liable for violation of the new rule.

“We will not suspend or close the company,” Bello said. “They will be reminded of the health protocol. It’s too excessive to shuter them. It would affect the employees because if there are no offices there would be no jobs.”

According to Bello, the IATF also approved a new workplace policy mandating that only one person at a time would be allowed in smoking lounges, following findings that overcrowding in such facilities could hasten the transmission COVID-19.