Amid the increasing Covid-19 cases in the country, the Department of Health (DOH) said it did not give a recommendation to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to reimpose the mandatory wearing of face masks.
In a press conference, DOH officer-in-charge Dr. Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the current surge in Covid-19 cases does not warrant the reinstatement of previous policies since there has been no corresponding rise in severe or critical cases, or fatalities.
“We already have recommended to the Office of the President, based on the agreements coming from the IATF discussions na hindi naman kailangan ibalik ang mandato, kailangan lang talaga ma-shift na natin ang mindset ng ating mga kababayan,” Vergeire said.
Vergeire said Filipinos should expect Covid-19 cases to rise and fall due to the mutation of the virus.
“Tataas bababa ang mga kaso dito sa ating bansa dahil andito ang virus, hindi mawawala and the virus will mutate and produce variants every now and then,” she said.
However, she said the Philippines should not be inconsistent with its policies.
“Hindi po kailangan na back and forth ang policies natin, kailangan po lahat tayo ay magtulong-tulong para tayo ay makaalpas sa ganitong sitwasyon,” Vergeire said.
“Ang kailangan, alam natin kung paano proteksyunan ang ating sarili pati ang ating pamilya, and that, piliin natin na mag-mask tayo kapag pupunta tayo sa mga high-risk na mga lugar katulad ng mga matataong lugar,” she added.
The Philippines has 7,037 active Covid-19 cases as of May 2. John Ezekiel J. Hirro