That, is not really the most important question.
“Face shields can substantially reduce the short-term exposure of health care workers to large infectious aerosol particles, but smaller particles can remain airborne longer and flow around the face shield more easily to be inhaled. Thus, face shields provide a useful adjunct to respiratory protection for workers caring for patients with respiratory infections. However, they cannot be used as a substitute for respiratory protection when it is needed.”
SOURCE: Lindsley WG, Noti JD, Blachere FM, Szalajda JV, Beezhold DH. Efficacy of face shields against cough aerosol droplets from a cough simulator. J Occup Environ Hyg. 2014;11(8):509-18. doi: 10.1080/15459624.2013.877591. PMID: 24467190; PMCID: PMC4734356.
So what does this mean for some of you who don’t like wearing face shields?
First of all, face shields were never meant to be the sole PPE to protect yourself from getting COVID-19. It’s meant as an added supplement or support to your face mask (which I personally recommend you consider using a double mask combo of a surgical mask + a cloth mask). You don’t wear it by itself; there’s been a documented case of hotel patrons who only wore face shields, and ended up getting infected.
Before stores started selling face shields, I already knew that I would need some sort of protection for my eyes, if we’re dealing with a virus that can be passed from droplets expelled by people coughing, sneezing, or talking exuberantly. So last year, I hollowed out a section of an empty mineral water bottle, and made a helmet covering my whole face.
I remember feeling anxious, standing just a few inches beside the door, trying to get the nerve to go outside in what I believed then to be a deceptively hostile environment. This was the first quarter of 2020, and besides SARS-CoV-2, it felt to me as if the air was also filled with worry, and panic, and malignant unease.
When I finally got the courage to step outside into the empty street, I also remember walking past a few people who would stare at me and the inverted plastic bottle that was covering my head. I didn’t know if they were silently snickering; parts of the bottle were translucent, and I couldn’t see details clearly. I just thought it was probably for the best, and continued on.
Eventually, I traded the bottle for shades, then goggles, and then my sister sent me a couple of face shields.
By this point, people were still debating whether or not face shields would actually help, or if COVID-19 was possibly an airborne virus. Back then, I just figured that if you can get infected when you come into contact with droplets of SARS-CoV-2, then it probably makes sense that you’d need to protect parts of your body that could come into contact with those droplets. For your skin, you wash your hands, or you take a bath. For your nose and mouth, you wear a surgical mask. For your eyes, you probably need to cover that too. And that’s where the face shields come in.
I’ve heard all kinds of reasons from people who don’t want to wear a face shield. People who don’t understand the idea or the science behind wearing one. People who find it annoying or unbearable to wear. People who want to gain some level of influence or fame by advocating something that the masses allegedly want so bad. Worse is when they argue that there’s no scientific basis for wearing one; which usually means they never bothered to check for themselves. Every time I step outside to buy groceries, I always see the same thing: people wearing their shields like a welder’s mask. It’s a face shield, people– NOT a hair shield. Instead of endlessly ranting how ineffective you think face shields are, maybe try wearing it properly for a change.
Some of the arguments against face shields, though, I can respect. Like how bikers were once expected to be wearing face shields during their rides. Or how motorists seating alone in their car, were still made to wear their face shield due to some unique and flawed interpretation of the health guidelines. Or how you were sometimes required to wear a face shield even if you were already in a nearly deserted, totally outdoor open space. Some of these exaggerated implementations are the reason some people don’t trust face shields in the first place. Incorrect and inconsistent use of masks and shields coming from people advocating their effectiveness has resulted in a portion of the public not taking personal protection seriously. When the government comes up with implementing rules and guidelines during this health crisis, they need to be grounded in medical and scientific fact, or else they only create confusion, animosity, and indifference.
In summary, even if the IATF or the DOH outlaws the use of face shields in order to gain ‘pogi points’ with the public, I’d still wear it, while also double masking, and maintaining a 6 feet distance from other people on the rare instances that I go out for essential reasons.
More importantly, the real question here is, who will you listen to when you’re talking about health concerns? When it comes to medical & scientific matters, if I ever need a second opinion on something, I’d rather listen to a competent voice from the medical & scientific community, and not some politician with a hidden agenda, or social media influencers just trying to get on my good side by giving advice way beyond their skill set.
-The Wasted Wanderer
The Wasted Wanderer 