‘Mask mandate to remain until end of pandemic’

MANILA, Philippines — The mandatory wearing of face masks in public places will remain as the government policy until the COVID-19 pandemic dissipates, the National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19 said yesterday.

Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., NTF chief implementer, said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has yet to discuss whether the policy should be lifted or not.

“As of now, we haven’t discussed the removal of the face mask (policy). No such discussion has been made,” Galvez said in an interview with radio station dzBB, noting that the government is still trying to control COVID-19 cases nationwide.

“What I have been telling the media all this time is that the last component of our easing of (rules and restrictions amid the pandemic) would be the removal of the mask mandate because that’s our final defense,” he added.
Earlier this week, Galvez said the mask mandate could be scrapped by the fourth quarter of this year, but only if the pandemic becomes “very manageable” at that time.

NTF medical adviser Teodoro Herbosa said the move could be possible, considering that the government would have fully vaccinated 90 million Filipinos by then, a number that represents about 81 percent of the whole population.

However, Galvez said the NTF’s official recommendation is that the mask mandate would not be scrapped until COVID-19 has been “totally eliminated.”

“Until the pandemic has ended… and while we cannot say that we are totally secured or that the COVID-19 is totally eliminated, we cannot remove the face mask (mandate),” he said.

Malacañang had said that face masks would still be required under Alert Level 1 classification, which may be in effect by March 1.

Under Alert Level 1, intrazonal and interzonal travel will be allowed regardless of age and comorbidities.

All establishments or activities may operate or be undertaken at full on-site or venue capacity, but minimum public health standards like observing physical distance, frequent hand washing, and wearing of face masks are observed.

Metro Manila and several other areas will be under Alert Level 2 until the end of February even with the decline in new COVID-19 infections and the low health care utilization rate.

Latest data on the National Vaccination Dashboard of the NTF showed that only over 60 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated, with over eight million already having received their booster dose.