OCTA: No need to restore mask mandate

VIRUS STILL HERE Pedestrians, many of them wearing face masks, cross Kamuning Road in Quezon City in this photo taken in September 2022. —GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

There is no need for the government to reimpose the mask mandate despite the rising cases of COVID-19 in the country, the independent group OCTA Research said on Friday.

OCTA research fellow Guido David said that based on their projection, the positivity rate in Metro Manila could go as high as 25 percent.

He also reported that OCTA had seen more than a 20 percent positivity rate in areas around Metro Manila, such as Laguna, Cavite and Camarines Sur.

But David said health-care utilization won’t reach critical levels, which are currently at 25 percent in Metro Manila.

“We don’t expect that it will reach 40 percent for example and it will be safe at low levels,” he said.

“Because of our high vaccination rates, our hospitals are no longer full,” he added.

David said the increase and decrease in COVID-19 cases was expected, even if it would become endemic.

“For example, dengue is considered endemic but every year we see an increase and decrease in cases. So it’s something that seems normal that we can come to expect,” he said. President Marcos told reporters on Sunday that the government might reimpose mandatory wearing of masks but he would wait for the recommendation of the Department of Health (DOH) and the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).

On Tuesday, the DOH said it was not endorsing the return of the mask mandate, citing that a “knee-jerk reaction” may not be good for the economy.“

We already have recommended to the Office of the President, based on the agreements coming from the IATF discussions, that there is no need to return the mandate, we just need to shift the mindset of our countrymen,” said Maria Rosario Vergeire, officer in charge of the DOH.

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