The Philippines has scrapped the mandatory use of face shields outdoors, in a further easing of coronavirus restrictions, the presidential spokesman said on Monday.
Confusion about the use of face shields - which were mandatory indoors and outdoors alongside face masks - arose last week, when President Rodrigo Duterte said they need only be worn inside hospitals. Health officials and the government's Covid-19 task force said they were still necessary.
"What is clear is this - face shields are no longer required when outdoors," presidential spokesman Harry Roque said. Whether rules on the indoor use of face shields would also be scrapped is still being deliberated, and Duterte would make an announcement on it soon, Roque said. The government has meanwhile ramped up vaccinations against Covid-19, with more supplies expected to arrive later this month and in July.
More than 2.1 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated since the government launched the vaccination drive in March. The Philippines' total coronavirus caseload rose to 1,364,239, with5,249 cases reported on Monday, the Department of Health said. The death toll was up by 128 to 23,749, it added. Despite thousands of cases reported daily, the government has been easing coronavirus restrictions in a bid to jump-start the economy, which has contracted for the fifth straight quarter since last year.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
