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DOST exec favors continuing face shield policy

Monday, June 07, 2021 06:43 AM    Views : 575by:Janvic Mateo

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“We still favor (the wearing of face shields), especially in this critical period,” said DOST-Philippine Council for Health Research and Development executive director Jaime Montoya in an interview with “The Chiefs” over One News on Friday night.

MANILA, Philippines — An official of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is supporting the continued implementation of the policy requiring face shields in public places.

“We still favor (the wearing of face shields), especially in this critical period,” said DOST-Philippine Council for Health Research and Development executive director Jaime Montoya in an interview with “The Chiefs” over One News on Friday night.

“Maybe the cases seem to be going down, but I think we have to be sure that it is going down to levels that are manageable before we even think of changing some of these policies,” he added.

Several groups, including Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, have pushed for the lifting of the face shield policy, citing added financial burden and the lack of scientific evidence that it is a deterrent to the transmission of COVID-19.

But Montoya and other officials noted that face shields serve as extra layer of protection from the viral illness.

Officials from the Departments of Health (DOH) and of the Interior and Local Government earlier thumbed down the proposal to do away with the mandatory wearing of face shields in public places.

Metro Manila mayors, meanwhile, have deferred coming up with a recommendation with regard to the said policy.

During a virtual forum on Friday, the OCTA Research Group said they have yet to come up with an official position on the matter, citing continuing discussions among their members.

“Some of our fellows have also raised issue on the efficacy and the practicality of using face shields. But more work and data are needed to assess this particular intervention,” said OCTA fellow Ranjit Rye.

Michael Tee, also an OCTA fellow who cited how face shields can serve as an additional protection, noted that the policy has already been implemented for several months.

“Yes, it is a burden. There are other considerations like environmental concern… but if we can reduce the number of people who will be infected and can infect others, maybe we can just wait until we get vaccinated,” he added in English and Filipino.

“Let us respect what will be the decision of the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases),” he added.

Additional layer

The Philippine Medical Association (PMA) and the DOH are also opposed to Moreno’s proposal to do away with the face shield policy, saying wearing one is still important at this time because it provides “additional layer of protection against COVID-19.

In a statement, DOH said there is “no single method” that can provide full protection against the virus and noted that the “set minimum public health standard” is composed of proper wearing of face mask and shield, regularly washing or disinfecting of hands or high-touch surfaces, observing physical distance of one meter from persons outside households and ensuring proper ventilation in indoor spaces.

It explained that these are “non-pharmacological interventions that, when consistently done and observed altogether, will significantly help reduce risk of COVID-19 transmission and infection.”

“We understand the concerns raised on the government’s policy on wearing of face shields and we are open to dialogues in improving our health policies,” said DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.

She underscored that the nationwide trend of COVID-19 cases “is plateauing and not decreasing.”

“The increase in cases is slowly shifting in other regions outside the National Capital Region Plus. With this trend, we cannot afford to relax the policies on personal preventive measures,” she said.

Vergeire added that loosening up health protocols can be considered “when we see a continuous significant decline in our daily COVID-19 cases and/or once a significant portion of our population, especially the vulnerable sectors, the elderly and the persons with comorbidities, have been fully vaccinated.”

PMA president Benito Atienza had echoed the DOH statement, saying the use of face shields will help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“For us, it is better to continuously wear face masks, face shields, practice hand washing and observe physical distancing,” he told radio dzBB.

The DOH cited various studies showing that the “benefits of using face shield or face mask or both… suggest that one may offer better protection than the other in specific scenarios.”

One of the studies further underscored 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.

The agency said a study by Bhaskar and Arun (2020) among community health workers in India also 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 health care workers were infected with COVID-19.

It also said that in the Living Clinical Practice Guidelines of the Philippine Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases and University of the Philippines-National Institutes of Health for COVID-19 as of May 2021, “evidence still suggest the public’s use of face mask plus protective eyewear, such as face shield or goggles, in areas with sustained community transmission of the virus.”

Present proof

But Moreno insisted on Friday that the government should present scientific proof that the use of face shields is an effective tool to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

In an interview with ANC, he proposed to stop the use of face shields unless there is a scientific study that could prove that it is effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Moreno noted that people with respiratory problems, such as asthma, are having difficulty dealing with their daily lives for wearing face shields and that its use in factories and other enclosed offices has been a cause of accidents among workers.

“Other countries were able to control the pandemic without using face shields. First of all, we need to prove to the people the scientific basis for health protocols. We also need to lessen the expenses of the people. Ordinary people buy face shields and face masks everyday as an additional expense to them,” Moreno stressed.

“How about those with respiratory problem, breathing problem even when there was no COVID-19 yet…Those who are aged, they are having difficulties in breathing while climbing the stairs because they are wearing face shields,” he added.

He suggested that the government “use common sense” in dealing with the mandatory wearing of face shields.

“Many workers slipped while walking because their face shields became foggy and they could not see anything while doing their job. Another problem is the volume of garbage that the use of face shields, which are made of plastic, generates everyday. We have more than 100 million Filipinos nationwide and the general population are being required to wear face shields all over the country and that is one hundred million plastic everyday or every week,” he pointed out.

Moreno said he is just echoing the legitimate concerns of people who have no access to the national government to make their voices heard.

“But face mask, I agree. Now, these are the points of our people. I just echo it because I took it as my responsibility because the people cannot talk to the IATF. I urge, I did not argue, we will lose nothing if we will revisit the policy and prove it scientifically…It’s unfair to the people for the government to ignore their legitimate concerns,” he added.

Just like the DOH, he also cited a study conducted by an association of professionals in the US, which found that the use of both face mask and face shield altogether is just equivalent to the effectiveness of wearing face mask only.

“Both used together provided best protection, although the combined protection was similar to (that of a) surgical mask use alone. So, it means there is no significance,” Moreno said.

He also said that the government should weigh the effect on the economy for each policy on health protocols that it will implement. ?“We have to consider the difficulties of the people, the accident that they encountered while wearing face shields, plastic is plastic. Let us balance things in policy. We have to explain to the people and tell them science, not imagination. Asking comfort from the government is not a sin,” he stressed.

Moreno also cited a plant in northwestern Manila where workers suffered a lot of discomfort because of the mandatory wearing of face shields.

“There are mechanical movements in plants…it creates accidents. I know one who is a government worker. He has eyeglasses and he slipped on the stairs while climbing it. There is no compromise…Do people really need it? It should not be a motherhood statement because you are dealing with the discomfort of the people…If there is a basis for the face shield use, I will be the one to lead the campaign,” he said. – Sheila Crisostomo, Jose Rodel Clapano

 

Source: https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/06/06/2103389/dost-exec-favors-continuing-face-shield-policy?fbclid=IwAR0wSuTywQbna5Y-cr7sSHh7v3kxX-6sRhX2ALuOjWjfFYyVzaGWtP24qXw

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