MUST YOU require a farmer tending to his crops to wear a full face shield? Facemask yes if there are other people around him, but face shield no.
Must you require a fisherman out at sea to wear a full face shield? Facemask yes, if there are other people around him, but face shield no.
The Inter-Agency Task Force should abandon the “one size fits all” mentality which was the driving force for requiring those ridiculous motorcycle barriers and is the same concept behind requiring all Filipinos to wear full-face shields, including cyclists, runners, and scooter riders.
Do not require the cyclists, runners, and scooter riders to wear those face shields. For them, the face masks are enough when they are on the roads, including the sidewalks. Stop using “bazooka” and “shotgun” solutions to these COVID-19 situations requiring calibration, logic, reason, and plain common sense. The warfare soldiers and police officers know is not the approach we need against COVID-19. The science of epidemiology is what our country needs to use now. The science underlying road safety and sports physiology are needed.
Most certainly, require the full face shields in public places and indoor spaces where walking people gather, but not and never on our roads. Full face shields, like those barriers between backrider and motorcycle biker, have been proven to be senseless and pose road safety risks. The face shields commonly available now are simply and plainly not suitable for road conditions. Those face shields are for walking conditions, not for road use. Those common face shields can get blown away by the wind. They can cause personal injury to the wearer and other persons on the road. They hamper the wearer’s full range of vision and situational awareness while on roads.
The very least the IATF can do it to consult road safety experts, leaders of the cycling community and cycling sports associations, and the cyclists, runners, and scooter riders — many of whom are healthcare frontliners, informal sector workers, government employees, and factory workers.
Even if you require all those people to wear the more expensive face shields being sold on Facebook and online selling platforms, doing so would be illegal if those more expensive face shields do not follow product safety standards of the Department of Trade and Industry. Those more expensive face shields cost hundreds of pesos. Requiring employees and ordinary citizens to buy those shields in patently unjust.
