DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire talks to reporters via Zoom meeting on Thursday, April 23, 2020. INQUIRER.net file photo / Daphne Galvez
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday said the wearing of face mask will always be part of health protocols in the Philippines as it is now part of the “new normal” in light of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said this as the government is set to place some areas with low to moderate risk to COVID-19 infection under general community quarantine (GCQ) beginning May 1 where some movement restriction will be relaxed.
Vergeire said aside from wearing face masks, other measures such as regular hand washing, covering of nose and mouth when sneezing, and physical distancing will remain in effect.
“We are going into this new normal already kung saan whatever state of quarantine your area is in, ang mask ay palagian nang andiyan katulad ng paghuhugas ng kamay, pagtatakip ng ilong at bibig kapag bumabahing at saka physical distancing,” Vergeire said in an online press briefing.
(We are going into this new normal already wherein whatever state of quarantine your area is in, the wearing of face mask will always be there like other protocols such as the regular hand washing, covering of nose and mouth when sneezing, and physical distancing.)
“It’s part of the new normal. Masks will always be part of our protocol,” she added.
Early this month, the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases made the wearing of face mask and covers mandatory for people going outside their residences to prevent the spread of COVID-19, which has so far infected 7,777 people nationwide, a vast majority of which were recorded in Luzon.
The government is set to release on or before April 30 the guidelines for the GCQ or the touted “new normal” in the absence of a vaccine against the coronavirus disease.