The government's pandemic task force has repealed the policy requiring students in higher education institutions (HEIs) to have medical insurance before participating in in-person classes, Malacañang announced.

Communications Undersecretary Kris Ablan made this announcement as the Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases decided to keep Metro Manila and many other areas under Alert Level 1 from June 1 to 15, 2022.

In his press briefing on Friday, May 27, Ablan said that the IATF approved the recommendation of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to remove the said requirement.

Before this move, HEIs were mandated to make sure that students who will participate in face-to-face classes are registered with PhilHealth or have equivalent medical insurance that covers medical expenses for Covid-19 as either direct or indirect contributors.

In March this year, the IATF allowed HEIs in areas under Alert Level 1 to hold face-to-face classes up to 100-percent classroom capacity but only those fully vaccinated students and teaching and non-teaching personnel are allowed on the premises.

The IATF made this move as the government slowly eased Covid-19 restrictions to revitalize the economy.

The task force said HEIs could choose the learning modalities to operationalize as long as there would be continuity of learning under any flexible learning method. This is to accommodate the unvaccinated or partially unvaccinated students.

There is likewise no restriction to the operations of student dormitories, but HEIs should coordinate with their local government units before reopening.