The COVID war is far from over – keep your shields on

We’ve been flip-flopping on the use of face shields all week. It’s on and off from one day to the next.

What is the deal with face shields? After a meeting with lawmakers, including Senate President Vicente Sotto III, at Malacañang last week, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte had agreed that the wearing of face shields should only be mandatory at hospitals. It was Senator Sotto who broke the news. He, along with Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso, had been most vocal in urging the government to reconsider its face shield policy. Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque later confirmed the news, adding that “what the president has decided, then that’s policy.”

But policies are not set in stone, not at a time as uncertain as this pandemic. As quickly as it was announced, the policy was reversed, the President yielding to the advice of health experts that, in view of the more infectious COVID-19 variants, it was in our best interest to keep our face shields on.