Duterte: Face masks to remain despite ‘very low’ COVID-19 infections

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said he will not yet repeal the order for the mandatory use of face masks despite “very low” COVID-19 infections, adding the virus is still mutating and may cause another surge.

“The numbers are very low compared to the population. But itong mask, maraming nagtatanong, alam mo (many are asking about the face masks but) I am not ready to order the removal of the mask,” he said during the Talk to the People aired Tuesday morning.

The Department of Health (DOH) reported on Monday that there were 510 daily average cases from March 14 to 20.

During that timeline, the Philippines also recorded a total of 3,572 new COVID-19 cases which was 13% lower than the cases reported in the previous week.

In his report before the President, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III echoed the statement of Duterte on keeping the face masks as do with other minimum public health standards.

“Masking, hindi pa natin po ito pwedeng pakawalan. Kailangan po patuloy nating sundin ang panuntunan ng ating Department of Health at IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force),” Duque said.

(We can’t remove the face masks yet. We still need to continuously follow the measures set by the DOH and the IATF.)

For face shields, Duterte said that they could be removed. He also stressed that the COVID-19 may still linger for a long time, especially that it is mutating.

“Siguro ‘yung plastic na cover, pwede na ‘yun (maybe the plastic cover could be removed). Pero as I said, it has done a lot of good and prevented the contamination from spreading. So, matagal pa ito (this will linger for a long time),” he added.

During the same meeting, Duterte asked Congress not to move the unused P4.99 billion funds under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2) as it may come in handy should there be another COVID-19 surge in the Philippines. — RSJ, GMA News