If it were up to DOH, face masks would stay mandatory even outdoors
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health said Thursday that it would prefer to keep wearing face masks mandatory even as the government's pandemic response task force has voted to recommend relaxing masking rules.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases is recommending making wearing face masks voluntary in open areas that are not too crowded. DOH is chair of the IATF, a recommendatory body whose resolutions had the force of law in the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The position of the DOH is for us to continue masking. But there were several [pieces of] data that were presented that also led to this decision," Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, officer-in-charge of the DOH, said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel.
The proposal has already received the "verbal approval" of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. but the policy shift will take effect only after he issues an executive order.
Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos said the Philippines and Myanmar are the last countries in Southeast Asia still requiring masks outdoors.
According to Vergeire, economic managers also said the number of tourist arrivals will increase if the mask mandate is removed.
‘Low-risk’
The health official stressed the new policy will be done by low-risk individuals and implemented in low-risk settings.
"[This means] those would only be done outdoors in settings where it is not crowded, in settings where there is good ventilation, and this would be done among low-risk individuals," Vergeire said.
Will the relaxed rules apply to everyone? "[N]ot the senior citizens, not those with comorbidities, not children, and definitely not those who are having symptoms of COVID-19," she said.
Vergeire said the COVID-19 infections in the Philippines are still manageable, noting that severe and critical cases were plateauing, while the proportion of people seeking treatment in hospitals was less than 30%.
Just last week, Vergeire said that wearing a mask is “just a small sacrifice to protect ourselves” after the Cebu City government issued an order making masking optional outdoors.
The Philippines has confirmed 3.89 million cases, with over 62,000 deaths, since the pandemic started in 2020.
More than 72.6 million Filipinos have completed vaccination against COVID-19. However, only 18.1 million people have gotten boosters.
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