The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has warned the public to brace for stricter enforcement of health protocols as the number of new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases breached the 9,000 mark for two consecutives days.
The continuous of upsurge of cases, as well as the projection that COVID-19 cases in the country would breach one million by the end of April this year, will leave the DILG with no option but to task the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Local Government Units (LGUs) to further intensify the implementation of the mandatory wearing of face masks and face shields.
On March 27, several individuals were caught off-guard when barangay officials accosted them for refusing their call for them to wear both face masks and face shields even while walking down the street.
A visibly pissed off houseboy from Project 4 Quezon City was on his way to a motorcycle repair shop in Barangay Quirino 2-B in the same district when a barangay kagawad (village councilor) and former barangay official reminded him to wear his face shield even if his face mask is properly worn.
The houseboy who requested anonymity insisted he should not have been accosted for having no face shield stressing he was not inside a “kulob na lugar (enclosed place)’’.
“Ano ba naman yan? Hindi dapat nila ako hinaharass dahil wala ako face shield. Nakasuot face mask ko. Hindi dapat ganun. (What was that all about? They should not harass me for having no face shield. I am wearing my face mask. That was uncalled for. It is very disturbing),’’ the houseboy said.
The houseboy eventually decided to leave the area without having gone to the motorcycle repair shop after the incident.
Former Barangay Quirino 2-B kagawad Efren Gata said that the houseboy was obviously unaware that the DILG requires the people to wear face masks and face shields in public places all the time.
He stressed that the “reminder (to the houseboy) was delivered in a very subtle and courteous manner’’ but understood his reaction “with the stressful situation brought by the pandemic.’’
The former barangay official added that he was about to show the DILG regulation in his cell phone to the “individual’’ but the visibly irritated motorcycle rider hastily left the place.
Kagawad Pia Oreta who was with Gata also reminded the motorcycle repair shop and establishment owners in the area to constantly remind their customers to observe proper health protocols when transacting business.
“Lahat parang irritable. Sakay ko yun. Bilang taga barangay at isang mabuting mamamayan trabaho namin ang makiisa para masiguro na napapatupad ang health protocols ng pamahalaan. Maaring nasasabak kami sa maiinit na pagtatalo pero okay lang yun. Kasama yun sa occupational hazard (Everybody seems very irritated. That is understandable. As a barangay official and a concerned citizen it is our duty to cooperate and ensure that the government’s health protocols are followed. We may run into some heated arguments but that is just fine. It is part of our occupational hazard,’’ Oreta added.
On March 23, DILG Undersecretary for operations Epimaco Densing III explained that wearing face masks and face shields in public places is mandatory under the minimum public health standard (MPHS) policy of the government.
Previously, the public was only required to wear both face masks and face shields only in enclosed buildings like malls, supermarkets, wet markets and other similar places.
The COVID-19 cases continue to skyrocket despite the imposition of the general community quarantine (GCQ) protocol with restrictions in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna and Cavite collectively known as the NCR (National Capital Region) plus.
To explain further, DILG Undersecretary and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya noted that the use of face masks provides 91 percent protection against the virus compared to the 32 percent safety from the face shield.
“According to the medical experts, the combined population effectiveness of both the face masks and face shields is only at 26 percent instead of 80 percent if use was more prevalent, therefore we have to increase the use of face shields to get the maximum protection at this time of the surge,” Malaya said.
With the COVID-19 nearing the 10,000 mark, Malaya admitted that the “challenge now is to get more people to use both the face masks and the face shields and not only the face masks.’’
“We will be mobilizing all our force multipliers in the barangays to enforce the face shield protocol,” Malaya stressed. Malaya noted that another challenge is to promote the use of face masks at home especially in households with senior citizens and those with underlying medical conditions.
The Department of Health (DOH) revealed in a GMA News report that the hotels in Metro Manila which serve as quarantine facilities are nearing the full capacity leaving the government with no other recourse but to look for other facilities outside the region to serve as isolation facilities.
DOH Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega said that the increasing number of COVID-19 patients in the isolation and treatment facilities is primarily due to the influx of returning overseas Filipinos (ROF) and overseas Filipino workers (OFW).