Authorities in the Philippines are considering reintroducing the mandatory face shield requirement amid the threat of the Omicron COVID-19 variant.
“We will look at the possibility. ‘Yan nga inaano ni Secretary [Francisco] Duque. He is pro na maibalik ‘yung any protections na pwede natin gamitin,” said
National Task Force Against COVID-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez.
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“Kasi some people from WHO (World Health Organization) also believed na kaya nagkaroon tayo ng magandang result dito sa Delta as compared to others is because of also the added protection of face shield,” he added.
Earlier the WHO advisers recognized the B.1.1.529 coronavirus variant, recently discovered in South Africa, as a variant of concern.
The variant was given the name Omicron, the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet, following WHO’s naming of coronavirus variants after Greek letters.
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The Philippine government has ordered the suspension of flights from South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Mozambique until December 15.
Authorities have also added the countries Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, and Italy to the list. (AW)
