Health experts said it is not yet the right time to lift the mandatory wearing of face masks in the country.

“It's too early to lift mask mandate even in outdoor,” said Dr. Rontgene Solante, head of adult infectious diseases at San Lazaro Hospital in Manila, in a text message.

Solante said it is also not the time to be complacent because of the waning immunity “for most who got only primary vaccine.” He also added that the booster coverage in the country remains low which is “one of the lowest in Asia.”

Cebu City recently issued an executive order making the wearing of face masks voluntary in the city. However, people are still required to wear face masks in health facilities.

Former Special Adviser to the National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19 Dr. Anthony Leachon also expressed his support to the recent statement of the Department of Health (DOH) with regards to the use of face masks.

He noted that the “lifting of mandatory face mask is too premature since cases are still high with 11.8 percent positivity rate.”

Leachon appealed to the Cebu City officials to reconsider their latest policy.

"Lifting the face masks in outdoor and open spaces is a counterintuitive measure of Cebu LGU (local government unit). Cebu even left the decision on policies to implement to establishment owners. This can be risky without consultation with DOH. We do respect their autonomy. But we have a national policy on face masks and other MPHS (minimum public health standards),” said Leachon in a text message.

“We would like to appeal to our honorable Cebu LCEs (local chief executives) and policymakers to have a higher sense of responsibility for the health of their constituents. We can’t be fragmented in our approach to end the pandemic,” he added.

“The face mask is the last to go in a country with low booster rate. Face mask is our friend. The booster is our life jacket,” he furthered.