Christmas caroling in the streets will be allowed this year, as long as that carolers wear face masks and face shields, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Wednesday.
“When caroling, we need to remember that it’s outdoors, so carolers should wear face masks and face shields,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in Filipino.
Vergeire also reminded the public that people expel more respiratory droplets when singing, which increases the risk of transmission of the COVID-19.
Minors in the National Capital Region have been allowed to go outside after nearly two years of being forced to stay home due to the COVID-19 threat.
Last year, several local governments banned caroling ahead of the Christmas holiday.
At that time, the new COVID-19 cases recorded daily ranged between 1,000 and 2,000.
Meanwhile, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said that the use of face shields may be made mandatory in closed spaces, crowded areas, and close-contact settings also called the “3Cs.”
Duque also said he preferred the risk-based use of face shields, where it will only be voluntary in areas under alert level 2 and mandatory in areas under higher alert levels.
“This is called risk-based use of face shields. When cases increase again, we can make it mandatory in Alerts Level 3 and 4,” he said.
The Department of Health (DOH) will present its recommendation on face shields on Thursday.
Vergeire said local governments that are pressing to remove face shields as a mandatory requirement could submit an appeal or a recommendation to the Inter-Agency Task Force.
Vergeire, in an interview on CNN, said face shields are effective in stopping the spread of droplets with the coronavirus.