Wearing of face masks indoors now voluntary

PRESIDENT FERDINAND Marcos is set to issue an executive order making donning of masks indoors no longer mandatory, according to Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco.

A woman wearing a face mask reads a newspaper inside a mall in southern Philippines. Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco says President Ferdinand Marcos is set to issue an executive order making donning of masks indoors no longer mandatory. (Photo by Al Jacinto)

Frasco said the decision to make the wearing of face masks indoors voluntary makes the country at par with its neighbors in liberalizing mask mandates. 

“Generally, the direction of the Marcos administration is to lift the remainder of travel restrictions into the Philippines, and that includes easing of our mask mandates to allow our country to be at par with our ASEAN neighbors who have long liberalized their mask mandates,” she said.

Frasco said the wearing of masks would remain required in public transportation, medical facilities, as well as medical transportation, adding mask-wearing is still highly encouraged for unvaccinated individuals, persons with comorbidities and senior citizens.

She said issues concerning mask mandates as well as new COVID-19 variants had been extensively tackled during the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases meeting recently with other Cabinet secretaries.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), also met with Marcos and they discussed issues hounding the health sector and the country’s development priorities post-pandemic. 

Ghebreyesus, who paid a courtesy call to Marcos at the Study Room in Malacañan Palace, said while the global COVID-19 situation has improved since the pandemic started, several risks and uncertainties continue since the virus continues to mutate.

During their meeting, Marcos also emphasized the necessity of finding a balance between the economy and people’s safety during the meeting, citing the effectiveness of the government’s COVID-19 vaccine campaign. He also called for a renewed focus on general public health concerns as cases of other diseases increase.

Marcos earlier said the country will stop treating the COVID-19 pandemic “as an emergency” but will not lift the state of calamity just yet. (OPS, Mindanao Examiner)