MANILA, Philippines — For the Department of Health (DOH), wearing of face shields is only encouraged and not mandatory, at least for now.

In an online briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the department is following the resolution of the Inter-Agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) which only encourages, and not mandates, the wearing of face shields.

“Ang resolution sa IATF, encouraged tong face shield. But hindi pa natin sinasabi na mandatory ‘yan although there has been other agencies na nagpalabas noong isang linggo na mandatory for these specific sectors,” Vergiere said.

(The IATF resolution states that face shields are encouraged. But we are not saying that that is mandatory already, although there have been other agencies that already released orders mandating it for specific sectors.)

Vergeire said the DOH is trying to balance the health and cost concerns before recommending to make face shields mandatory.

“Ang DOH naman especially alam natin, binabalanse din natin, may cost din kasi yang face shield so pinag-aaralan muna kung talagang gagawing mandatory,” Vergeire said.

(The DOH is trying to balance it especially since using face shields also entails cost, so we are really studying whether or not we make it mandatory.)

“But for now we are just encouraging it based on studies that have been done by our local researchers that it adds more to the protection of an individual from this transmission of the disease,” she added.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) earlier issued an amended memorandum circular requiring drivers, conductors, and passengers of public utility vehicles (PUVs) nationwide to wear face shields starting Aug. 15.

When it comes to the suggested retail price (SRP) of face shields, Vergeire said that DOH is also studying the appropriate materials for face shields.

“Katulad ng face mask, pinag-aralan natin ano yung appropriate sa community, ano yung appropriate for different settings,” Vergeire said.

(Like face masks, we are studying the appropriate materials for a community and what the appropriate materials are for different settings.)

“Itong face shield titingnan natin, kasi nga doon magb-base kung ano yung SRP na kukunin natin based on the material that we will be recommending that would provide appropriate and adequate protection to the person who is going to use this,” she added.

(The SRP will be based on the material that we will be recommending that would provide appropriate and adequate protection to the person who is going to use this.)