A health expert reminded Filipinos of the importance of using a face mask amid the ongoing threat of Covid-19.
The face mask serves as an essential tool in preventing the transmission of the Covid-19 virus, said Dr. Rontgene Solante, head of the Adult Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine unit at the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila.
“Well, ang mask mandate malaking bagay sa pagkontrol sa pandemic (the mask mandate is an essential tool in controlling the pandemic), especially for most of us. At naranasan natin iyan na mabilis nating nakontrol ang (And we were able to prove that as we quickly controlled the spread of the) Omicron because of the way we wear the face mask,” he said during a public briefing on Wednesday, May 11.
When asked if the face mask requirement will likely be lifted soon, Solante said “sa tingin ko, medyo mahaba-haba pa iyan (I think, that is still far from happening).”
“Let’s see in the next two to three months kung talagang tuluy-tuloy na ang pagbaba ng kaso, like less than 200, most likely baka hindi na natin kailangan ang face mask ( if the number of cases continues to drop, like less than 200, most likely---maybe we won't need to use face mask anymore),” he added.
On Tuesday, May 10, the Department of Health (DOH) said that it recorded 1,115 new cases from May 3 to 9. The average number of new cases daily is at 159, it added.