Marcos ‘might’ reimpose mask mandates

WASHINGTON – As the Philippines experiences an uptick in COVID-19 cases, the government might consider making the wearing of face masks mandatory again if recommended by health authorities, according to President Marcos.

“Although the rate of increase is becoming huge, our baseline is just low, so hopefully... We’re still going to be able to do it,” Marcos told reporters on board flight PR-001 last Sunday.

“So we’ll look at it. Let us see if there is guidance from the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases), if there is guidance from the DOH (Department of Health)... I hope we don’t have to, but we might, but I hope not,” he added.

The government may also have to mount another vaccination campaign to protect Filipinos, especially the young ones, from the virus, according to the President.

“It looks like we will have to conduct again, especially for young people, we’ll have to conduct again a vaccination push to reduce (the number of infections), especially with people... having a hard time because of the heat, that weakens their bodies and that will make them more vulnerable to COVID again,” he said.

The government under former president Rodrigo Duterte required the wearing of face masks during the height of the pandemic to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The pandemic situation has since improved, prompting authorities to relax mobility restrictions.

In September last year, Marcos agreed to make the wearing of face masks outdoors optional. The following month, he signed an executive order making the wearing of face mask indoors voluntary, except in health care facilities, medical transport vehicles and public transportation.

The DOH recorded 304 new COVID-19 cases last Saturday, raising the number of active cases in the country to 5,070.

In terms of the number of new cases in the last two weeks by date of the onset of the illness, Metro Manila topped all regions with 2,533 infections, followed by Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) with 1,124 and Davao region with 420.