Face shields no longer required in Cebu City

Cebu City residents are no longer required to wear face shields, acting Cebu City mayor Michael Rama announced during a press conference on Wednesday, November 10.

The acting mayor made the order through Directive No. 11-09-01.

According to Rama, the change in policy came after the Cebu City multi-sectoral convergence (meeting) concluded that face shields were only being worn for “compliance purposes” and not as they should be properly worn. 

“Consequently the Convergence Group recommended the lifting of the mandatory use of face shields in certain venues and facilities with exceptions,” Rama said. 

This means that residents are no longer required to wear face shields when entering malls, restaurants, and other indoor spaces.

However, face shields are still required in hospitals, diagnostic centers, and public utility vehicles (except for open-air jeeps).

Cebu is the latest local government to drop face shield requirements after Metro Manila, Iloilo and Davao Cities.

On Monday, November 8, the Department of Health urged local government units to wait for the IATF decision on the use of face shields.

Previously, Rama left the use of face shields to the discretion of business owners, saying the face shield policy was “preposterous” anyway. 

Minors in malls

In the same press conference, Rama also announced that adults who accompany minors in malls must be fully vaccinated.

Operators are required to check for the vaccination cards of any adult bringing minors in commercial establishments.

“The vaccination card [requirement] refers only to adults that will enter malls, who have minors with them. So, in malls, if you are with minors, you have to be fully vaccinated,” Cebu City councilor Joel Garganera, head of the city’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) said in Cebuano. 

Cebu City recently relaxed its movement restrictions upon adopting its Alert Level 2 status.

For the first time in months, the city reopened its cinemas, lifted the stay-at-home mandate for minors, and dropped the negative COVID-19 test requirement for fully-vaccinated inbound domestic travelers. 

The city’s active case count of the coronavirus disease also continues to fall.

According to EOC data, as of Tuesday, November 9, the total active cases is 172. Only 6, of the total 690 tested, resulted positive for COVID-19.

This brought the daily positivity rate to .87%, well below the 5% threshold set by the World Health Organization.

About 50.67% of Cebu City residents are fully vaccinated as of this writing. – Rappler.com