THE government can consider lifting the mandatory use of face masks as a protection against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) only after it has achieved 90 percent full vaccination coverage of the population, a medical adviser of the National Task Force against COVID-19 said yesterday.
Dr. Ted Herbosa, during the Laging Handa public briefing, said this may be possible by the fourth quarter of the year.
“By that time, if 90 million Filipinos are already fully vaccinated, that’s already 90 percent of our population. Most likely we can do away with the mask if many Filipinos are already protected,” Herbosa said.
The government targets to fully vaccinate 90 million of the population and administer booster shots to more than 72 million by the end of June, or by the time President Duterte ends his term.
The rest of the population will be vaccinated and given boosters beyond the President’s term.
In the meantime, Herbosa said the rules maybe relaxed and people allowed to remove their face masks when they are in open spaces and when all the people in the place are fully vaccinated.
“I think we can already do away with face masks in open spaces in case the majority of our population is already fully vaccinated,” he said.
Herbosa made his comments following reports quoting vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. that the mandatory use of face masks would “most likely” be dropped by the fourth quarter of the year.
Galvez said that for now, the public should continue to follow the minimum health protocols such as the wearing of face masks especially in closed and crowded places.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año doused cold water on talks that the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) is planning on lifting the mandatory use of face mask amid the improved pandemic situation in NCR.
Año said that while the IATF is set to discuss the possible downgrading of the alert status of Metro Manila to Alert Level 1, talks about adjusting the policy on the use of face mask has not been brought up.
“We have an IATF meeting tomorrow (Thursday) and it (downgrade to Alert 1) may be included in the discussion. While it is being discussed, we need to carefully plan for it,” Año said, adding that a technical working group of the IATF is also crafting comprehensive guidelines for the new normal.
Año said a thorough study needs to be conducted first before placing NCR under Alert Level 1 because “there are no longer restrictions under Alert Level 1, except the minimum public health standards.”
Año said the IATF also has to consider the ongoing election campaign for national candidates, and the fact that the country has opened its borders to foreigners.
Herbosa reiterated his call for candidates and their supporters and sortie organizers to ensure compliance to minimum health protocols to prevent turning political rallies into super-spreader events.
As of February 14, more than 132 million doses of vaccine doses have been administered nationwide. More than 61.22 million got their first dose, 61.62 million are fully vaccinated, and 9.16 million have received their booster doses.
‘LOW RISK’
The COVID-19 situation in the whole of the National Capital Region (NCR) and all the provinces in Calabarzon continues to improve, based on data gathered by the independent OCTA Research.
In a social media post, OCTA fellow Guido David said NCR, Cavite, Laguna, Quezon, and Rizal are now classified as low risk.
“Quezon is very close to being the first province under very low risk classification,” David said.
David said the reproduction rate in NCR (0.19), Cavite (0.20), Laguna (0.19), Quezon (0.19), and Rizal (0.18) are already at “very low” risk classification.
On the other hand, the positivity rate of NCR (7%), Cavite (9%), Laguna (8%), and Rizal (8%) are at “moderate” risk classifications, while Quezon (4%) is at low-risk classification.
Also, the average daily attack rates (ADARs) of NCR (3.57), Cavite (2.76), Laguna (2.58), and Rizal (2.04) are at moderate risk classifications, while Quezon (0.79) is at very low risk classification.
As for Batangas, David said the province remains under moderate risk classification.
“Batangas is also expected to be reclassified as low risk within the next few days,” said David, pointing out that Batangas has registered 0.25 reproduction rate, 10 percent positivity rate, and 2.09 ADAR.
FREE VACCINES FOR TOURISTS
Sen. Francis Tolentino proposed that the government offer COVID-19 vaccines to inbound foreign visitors to further boost the country’s tourism industry which was badly hit by the pandemic.
Tolentino said allowing foreign visitors to be vaccinated upon arrival would also allay fears of another potential surge of COVID-19 infections that may be caused by the influx of foreign travelers.
He said one-shot vaccines such as the ones produced by Johnson and Johnson, and Gamaleya Light are the suitable brands for inbound tourists since they no longer require a second dose.
Tolentino said the government can do this since vaccines continue to pour in and a big number of Filipinos have already received their second dose or booster shots.
The country’s tourism sector was a major contributor to the Philippine economy prior the COVID-19 pandemic, contributing 12.7 percent to the country’s gross domestic product and generated around 5.7 million new jobs nationwide.
The Bureau of Immigration last week announced it is expecting a 30 percent increase in arrivals following the country’s reopening of borders to foreign tourists after almost two years of closure due to the pandemic. — With Gerard Naval, Victor Reyes and Raymond Africa
