ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Health expert pushes for retention of face mask mandate in Metro Manila

Health expert pushes for retention of face mask mandate in Metro Manila

Published Jun 10, 2022 03:54 pm

Should Metro Manila lift its face mask mandate amid the Covid-19 pandemic? A health expert said no.

(Jansen Romero / Manila Bulletin)

Health reform advocate and former special adviser of the National Task Force (NTF) against Covid-19 Dr. Anthony “Tony” Leachon, on Friday, June 10, urged the national government to retain the face mask requirement in Metro Manila, adding that complacency should have no place in a country with low booster rate, especially amid emerging Covid-19 variants.

“Sa aking palagay, hindi pa dapat tayo magtanggal ng masks dito sa National Capital Region (NCR) dahil ito yung tinatawag na epicenter. Dito nanggagaling yung mga travelers that will go to destinations outside of NCR, either for vacation or for going home sa probinsya (In my opinion, we should not remove masks here in the NCR because this is the so-called epicenter of the virus. Travelers who are either going for a vacation outside the NCR, or going home in their province usually come from the region),” said Leachon in an interview over DZRH

While Metro Manila remained at the low risk Covid-19 classification, experts disclosed that there has been a notable uptick in the region’s positivity rate, reproduction number, and hospital bed occupancy.

The OCTA Research group, on Thursday evening, June 9, reported that the region’s reproduction number is currently at 1.20. Experts say that a high reproduction number indicates that there is also a high virus transmission in the region.

Meanwhile, based on the report, Metro Manila’s positivity rate is at 2.2 percent. Although it has yet to reach the benchmark of at least 5 percent, OCTA reiterated that there is already an increase in the region’s Covid-19 determinants.

Leachon likewise underscored that the removal of the face mask mandate may pose a risk, considering that the number of boosted FIlipinos remained low at 14, 438,542 as of June 4, 2022.

“Ako ay siguristang doktor. Kapag nagawa natin ‘yung booster na mas mataas – at least 50 million, doon lang ako matatahimik. Magiging resilient at protected ang population natin, kaya dapat ay lagyan natin ng timeline yun (I am a cautious doctor. When we make the booster higher – at least 50 million, only then can I be calm. Our population will be resilient and protected, so we must put a timeline on that),” he added.

The Department of Health (DOH), on the other hand, also urged the public to continuously adhere to the minimum public health standards against Covid-19. This includes the use of face masks and the observance of physical distancing, especially in crowded areas.

Related Tags

Face mask Metro Manila covid-19 Department of Health (DOH) Dr. Tony Leachon
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.