Following the recommendation to make wearing of face masks voluntary in open spaces, the Department of Health (DOH) reminded the public to carefully assess their risk and take the necessary precautions to protect themselves against Covid-19.
“We all need to help each other na alam natin (and we must know) what should be the good practice of determining whether we wear our mask or we don’t wear our mask,” said DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire during the Malacanang press briefing on Wednesday, Sept. 7.
Vergeire urged the public to still wear masks outdoors if the area is crowded or if it is not well-ventilated.
“Kailangan ang ating mga nakakatanda, immunocompromised individuals, may mga taong may sintomas—kahit hindi crowded ang pinuntahan niyo, kailangan niyo pong mag mask (The elderly, immunocompromised individuals, those experiencing symptoms—even if you are not in a crowded place, you need to wear a mask),” she said.
To note, the government’s pandemic task force has recommended the optional wearing of face masks outdoors nationwide. President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. still needs to issue an executive order before this becomes a policy, said Vergeire.
Public transportation
Vergeire also reminded the public that public transportation is considered an indoor setting.
“When we talk about public transportation, we’re talking about crowded place, so it’s a crowded setting,” she said.
“Pag tiningnan din natin, parang indoor din siya, especially MRT, LRT— so siguro po iyan po ay magiging (When we look at it, it is an indoor , especially MRT, LRT— so maybe that will be) exempted from that voluntary nature because we expect that transport areas or yung mga sinasakyan nating pampubliko ay laging siksikan (those that we ride in public are always crowded),” she added.
Schools
Children should also wear face masks while they are inside the classroom, said Vergeire.
“When we look at the vulnerable sectors in the society, we include children as part of those vulnerable. I suggest that our parents be more careful and for them to ensure that their children are protected especially when they go to school where there are a lot of students interacting between and among each other,” she said.
“Mas maganda po siguro na hikayatin pa rin natin ang ating mga magulang since this is voluntary na lagyan pa rin ng mask ang mga bata hanggang makatapos nung kanilang session for school and when they go home, pag outdoor, pwede namang wala. Para nakakalaro din ng maayos ang mga bata (Maybe it's better that we still encourage our parents to still let children wear a mask until they finish their school session and when they go home, if they're outdoors, they can remove it. So that the children can also play properly),” she added.
Layers of protection
The DOH OIC also reminded Filipinos of the so-called “six layers of protection.” These are handwashing, physical distancing, wearing of the mask, vaccination, no crowding, and good ventilation.
“Kapag nakuha natin lahat iyan, we have adequate protection. Ngayon na nagkakaroon tayo ng liberalized policy on mask use, kailangan magpabakuna tayo para (When we do that, we have adequate protection. Now that we have a liberalized policy on mask use, we need to get vaccinated so that) the safeguard will be there,” said Vergeire.