Task force awaiting formal OK from Marcos
THE Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) has recommended the optional or voluntary wearing of face masks outdoors nationwide, Malacañang said yesterday.
Health department officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said President Marcos, Jr., who was still on a state visit in Singapore Tuesday, has verbally approved the recommendation.
The President was scheduled to arrive last night from his official trips to Indonesia and Singapore.
Vergeire, in a briefing in Malacañang, said the optional wearing of face masks outdoors is “not yet a policy.”
Vergeire said IATF Resolution Number 1 Series of 2022, states that the IATF has to make the recommendation to the President first, who in turn must issue a corresponding executive order to make it an official policy.
She added that the President gave the “verbal approval” during his talk with Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr.
Vergeire said the IATF recommendation is to limit the optional wearing of face masks to low-risk individuals and in low-risk settings. It will also be implemented in phases.
“Ni-liberalize natin iyung paggamit ng masks sa outdoors pero doon sa low-risk individuals and in low-risk settings, meaning hindi sila matanda, hindi sila immunocompromised (We liberalized the use of masks outdoors but only for low-risk individuals and in low risk settings meaning they should not be elderly, they should not be immunocompromised),” she said.
“Ang low risk setting, ibig sabihin doon sa mga area na hindi matao at saka maayos po ang daloy ng hangin (The low-risk setting means uncrowded areas and areas with proper air ventilation),” she added, adding that the IATF will determine how best to implement the pilot study on the voluntary wearing of face masks.
Press Secretary Trixie Cruz Angeles, in a virtual briefing, said the government is hoping to pilot test the lifting of the mandatory mask use towards the last quarter of 2022.
She, however, said this would only be implemented if the COVID-19 booster coverage improves.
She likewise “highly encouraged” vulnerable sectors, like senior citizens and immunocompromised individuals, to still use the face covering.
“Sa IATF, ang kanilang rekomendasyon ay pag-liberalize ng ating mask wearing mandate and make mask wearing outdoors voluntary across the country (The IATF’s recommendation was to liberalize the mask wearing mandate and make mask wearing outdoors voluntary across the country),” she said.
Angeles said the President is “optimistic” about the proposed optional wearing of face masks outdoors but declined to comment further.
FACE MASK USE AND TOURISM
In a separate briefing in Singapore prior to the announcement, Angeles said the Department of Tourism (DOT) has presented a study showing a direct correlation between the lifting of the face mask policy to an increase in tourism numbers.
The DOT, while emphasizing the need to raise the vaccination and booster rates, supposedly said that countries that have lifted the use of face masks or made it optional, have reported an increase in tourism arrivals.
“Hindi rin tayo basta-basta maaaring magbago ng ating health protocols na wala tayong backup plan (We cannot just change health protocols without a backup plan,” Angeles said.
She said what is important is finding a balance between the economy and public health.
She also said that the DOH and DOT need to reach a compromise on relaxing the face mask requirement.
Abalos, in a briefing in Malacañang, said a comparative analysis of the mask mandates before and after its lifting showed that Vietnam had a 777.1 percent increase in tourist arrivals to 743,000 from 327,000; while Singapore had a 232 percent increase to 1.5 million from 452,000; and Indonesia with a 114 percent increase to 743,000 from 347,000.
The IATF recommendations came at the heels of Cebu City’s implementation of an optional wearing of face masks outdoors.
STATE OF CALAMITY
Vergeire said the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) is set to submit its recommendations to the President regarding the state of national calamity brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
She said they had initially recommended to the NDRRMC the extension of the state of calamity after Marcos Jr. mentioned in an interview that he is inclined to have it extended before it lapses on September 12.
“The President has already pronounced this during one of his interviews, when he had his vaccination in the City of Manila. He said that he is also agreeing that the state of calamity be extended until the end of the year,” she said.
She said they told the President that the lifting or lapse of the state of emergency could affect the effectiveness and continued use of the emergency use authority (EUA) and the vaccine deployments and exemption programs.
