After Cebu City, Negros Occidental makes face masks optional outdoors
MANILA, Philippines — The wearing of face masks outdoors is now optional in Negros Occidental province, according to an executive order issued last Friday by Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson.
“The wearing of face masks in outdoor and open spaces shall be optional for all persons within the territory of Negros Occidental,” the executive order read.
However, facemasks will remain mandatory in indoor spaces and in medical facilities.
The easing of the mask mandate in Negros Occidental is effective immediately, making it the third area in the country where wearing facemasks outdoors is optional following Cebu City and the province of Iloilo.
The order comes just after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. supposedly gave the country’s pandemic task force a “verbal approval” after it suggested to make wearing facemasks outdoors voluntary.
Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles, however, clarified that easing the policy on facemasks has yet to be finalized. She said that the pilot test of the total lifting of the mask mandate may happen at the last quarter of the year provided that the country’s number of individuals with COVID-19 booster shots has improved.
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According to the Department of Health’s (DOH) vaccination dashboard, only 18.507 million individuals have received their booster dose as of Friday, September 9. This is against the over 72.754 million individuals who have already been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
In Western Visayas, 4.776 million individuals have been fully vaccinated but only 855,134 have received their booster doses.
The DOH, which is part of the country’s pandemic task force, previously said that it was still too soon to abandon the mask mandate after Cebu City made wearing face masks optional. — with report from Xave Gregorio
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