Luzon residents now required to wear face masks outside during lockdown
MANILA, Philippines — Residents of areas under the month-long enhanced community quarantine of the entire Luzon are now required to wear face masks when they go out of their homes.
Half of the country’s population were ordered to stay home for a month in a bid to keep people away from one another. Individuals are only allowed to leave their houses to buy food, medicine and other basic necessities.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles on Thursday announced that the government’s Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases adopted the policy of mandatory wearing of face masks to help counter the spread of the new coronavirus.
Those who are covered by the Luzon-wide lockdown should either wear face masks, indigenous, reusable or do-it-yourself masks, face shields, handkerchiefs or similar protective gear “that can effectively lessen the transmission of COVID-19” whenever they go out of their residences.
“Concerned local government units are hereby enjoined to issue necessary executive order or ordinance to that effect and impose such penalties as may be appropriate,” Nograles said.
Last month, Nograles, also the spokesperson of the IATF, said supermarkets, pharmacies and similar establishments should not require customers to wear face masks. Such establishments were only required to maintain social distancing—or staying at least one meter away from others—in their premises.
WHO guidance on use of face masks
As the global coronavirus cases across the globe balloon, people around the world scramble to get their hands on surgical masks to protect themselves.
The guidance of the World Health Organization that people who are healthy do not need to wear masks remain—only people who are sick and those caring for them should wear medical masks.
Experts also say that wearing a mask can provide a false sense of security, leading some people to become less vigilant in more important hygiene measures.
But WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agency’s recommendation may emerge as more pieces of evidence about the use of masks emerge.
“WHO’s priority is that frontline health workers are able to access essential personal protective equipment, including medical masks and respirators,” Tedros said.
He added: “WHO continues to gather all available evidence and continues to evaluate the potential use of masks more broadly to control COVID-19 transmission at the community level. This is still a very new virus and we are learning all the time. As the pandemic evolves, so does the evidence and so does our advice.”
The new coronavirus has so far infected 2,311 people in the Philippines—96 of whom have died.
- Latest
- Trending
