Face shields are again no longer required to be worn outdoors in the Philippines according to President Rodrigo Duterte.

 “No more face shields outside,” Duterte said during his Talk to the People late-night address last Wednesday, September 22.

Face shields will only be required in areas that are identified as “3Cs”: closed, crowded, and close-contact, he added.

Duterte said he approved the recommendation that mandatory use of face shields can be lifted in areas that do not fall under the 3C category: crowded, closed and close contact.

“ ‘Yan tatlo na ‘yan, face shield is a must pa rin. ‘Yun ang recommendation. Labas sa tatlong limitations, puwede na na hindi gumamit,” he said.

The Philippines is the only country in the world which requires the general public to wear face shields on top of face masks.

Plastic face coverings on top of face masks was limited to hospitals by Duterte last June.

But he flip-flopped days later and again required face shields in public areas, both indoors and outdoors. Duterte said he got scared of the Delta COVID-19 variant which was why he required the use of face shields again.

The Philippines has one of the highest numbers of coronavirus cases and deaths in Asia.

As of Wednesday, it has a total of 2,417,419 COVID-19 cases, with 37,338 deaths and 162,580 active cases.