PH relaxes protocol after IATF recommended optional face mask use outdoors
Residents wearing facemasks cross a street as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 novel coronavirus in Manila. (Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP)
MANILA, Philippines — The government’s pandemic task force Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), has recommended wearing face masks outdoors voluntarily, Malacañang announced on Wednesday.
Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said wearing face masks was recommended as “optional” in open spaces, non-crowded outdoor areas with good ventilation.
However, senior citizens and immunocompromised individuals are “highly encouraged” to continue wearing their masks.
“Ayon doon sa IATF, ang kanilang rekomendasyon ay sa pag-liberalize ng ating mask-wearing mandate and make mask-wearing outdoors voluntary across the country,” Angeles said in a Palace briefing.
(According to the IATF, they recommend liberalizing the mask-wearing mandate in the country and making mask-wearing outdoors voluntary across the country.)
For her part, Department of Health officer-in-charge Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has given “verbal approval” to the IATF’s recommendation.
Marcos is currently in Singapore for a state visit, one of the countries which relaxed its face masking rule.
She and Angeles, however, clarified that this is not yet a policy.
