Masks may no longer be needed if COVID cases dip to less than 200 —expert

MANILA, Philippines — Face masks may no longer be needed, if the number of COVID-19 cases continue to drop to less than 200, an infectious disease expert said Wednesday.

Dr. Rontgene Solante, a member of the Department of Science and Technology’s Vaccine Expert Panel, noted the contribution of face masks in controlling COVID-19 infections in the country.

“Ang mask mandate malaking bagay sa pag-control sa epidemic—sa pandemic, especially for most of us at naranasan natin ‘yan na mabilis nating nakontrol ang Omicron because of the way we wear the face mask,” he said in a Laging Handa public briefing.

(The mask mandate is a significant thing in controlling the epidemic—pandemic, especially for most of us and we experienced that when we quickly controlled the Omicron because of the way we wear the face mask.)

“Sa tingin ko, medyo mahaba-haba pa ‘yan. Let’s see, in the next two to three months, kung talagang tuloy-tuloy na ang pagbaba ng kaso, like less than 200, most likely baka hindi na natin kailangan ang face mask,” he went on.

(I think, it’s still a long way. Let’s see, in the next two to three months, if cases continue to decrease, like less than 200, most likely we may not need a face mask.)

The Department of Health (DOH) earlier said the use of face masks may no longer be needed by the end of the year if COVID-19 becomes endemic.

President Rodrigo Duterte meanwhile said the mask mandate will be enforced until the end of his term in June.

Based on the DOH’s COVID-19 tracker, the Philippines logged an additional 127 cases on May 10, driving the active infections to 3,638.

/MUF