With the lockdown being phased out gradually, people are going back to their workplaces and routine. Those who do not have their own traveling conveniences are using public transportation to travel. Being in close proximity to others, they may carry a risk of infection. Many of us are looking for ways to protect ourselves in preparation for this.
The usual steps of using sanitizers and social distancing can be maintained at home or in the office. But what will you do in a crowded bus where social distancing is not being followed properly?

We all are aware of these grave situations and are actively looking for ways to protect themselves in public. Many people simply use a piece of cloth wrapped around their face, while some use face masks. Some people have also taken to using face shields.
These have been usually worn in the medical field by surgeons, to stop fluids from getting to their faces during a surgery. The barrier it provides might make people tend to believe that it is a foolproof solution, as it blocks all fluids directed at the wearer’s face. But is a face shield enough? Can you do away with masks, if you are using a face shield? We don’t think so, neither do experts.

Face Shields offer a rigid protective barrier and cover the face from the forehead to the bottom of the chin. Being transparent, they are also convenient for the wearers. They offer protection against viral exposure from large droplets, approximately by 96% when worn within 18 inches of a cough. This is particularly useful in protecting the wearer’s eyes and may seem to be quite an attractive alternative for masks.

But it would be a mistake. Even while offering such a wide area of protection, face shields do not protect the wearer from all angles and from particles of microscopic sizes that include COVID 19 virus. This means that in the absence of a mask, small particles can easily reach the face shield wearer’s face. And also microbial particles escaping from the wearer are not filtered out, creating a public hazard. Dr. Frank Esper, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Cleveland Clinic Children’s Center, states, “It (Face Shield) protects you the wearer. But if you cough because the face shield is away from your face, those droplets can still get out better than if you have a mask on.”
As you can observe now, this poses a severe risk to both the wearer and others around.

Using a face shield is not enough to protect the wearer, just how utilizing a sanitizer by itself is not good enough. A proper face mask will still be necessary to protect against the dangers that are too small to be seen. It is vital that people choose one to wear, instead of wrapping a piece of cloth around their face for protection even while wearing a face shield. A proper face mask, like the N95 masks, can filter out more than 95% of microbial particles.
If anything, face shields can only enhance the protection offered by a face mask, and not replace it.