MANILA, Philippines – Misting and disinfecting operations along the road in towns at the eastern portion of Metro Manila have continued even with the Department of Health (DOH) not recommending such initiative.
Videos taken on Sunday night showed misting sites along Marcos Highway, near the border of Cainta and Antipolo City in Rizal. Other misting sites were still in place, including one along Sumulong Highway near the Marikina-Cainta border.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire emphasized during DOH’s press briefing on Monday that the World Health Organization itself said misting is not effective in killing the COVID-19 virus, as human exposure to such chemicals may prove to be more harmful.
Instead, the DOH recommends the cleaning of surfaces and not merely spraying chemicals onto passing cars and other vehicles. They also noted that misting is allowed but only near hospitals and that administrators of such sprays should be properly equipped with personal protective equipment.
According to local officials, the local government unit does not have any control of the misting operations, as the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) are in charge of these sites.
INQUIRER.net has tried to get the side of the DPWH but its officials have yet to respond as of posting time.
Currently, the entire Luzon is still under an enhanced community quarantine due to the rising COVID-19 cases. DOH officials said that there are 4,932 infected patients — 315 of which have already died while at least 242 have recovered.
Worldwide, over 1.8 million individuals have been infected, while 114,063 have died from the disease and 421,500 have recovered from it.