Outgoing Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III said he would recommend extending the face mask requirement amid the surge of Covid-19 infections in the country.
“Well, kung ako tatanungin mo, I will recommend that it should be extended because there’s already an increasing number of cases,” Duque said during an interview on CNN Philippines.
Aside from Covid-19, face masks can also help prevent influenza, bacterial pneumonia, monkeypox, and asthma, Duque noted.
“So dapat ipagpatuloy na lang dahil maraming value add naman ang masking. Hindi lang laban sa Covid-19. Maraming laban sa influenza, bacterial pneumonia, ang dami pang mga sakit,” he said.
The country remains at low-risk classification amid the surge of Covid-19 infections in the past few days. The average daily attack rate is less than 1 per 100,000 population, the DOH added.
Earlier, outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte declared that the fask mask requirement will not be lifted until his term ends on June 30.
— Ronald Espartinez