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Health dept not consulted in Cebu's lifting of mask rule outdoors: spox

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Gillan Ropero, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="People wearing face masks as a precaution against COVID-19 fall in line at the Monumento bus stop in Caloocan on January 3, 2021. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/news/06/06/20220103-covid-commuters-bus-stop-jc-3.jpg"/><figcaption>People wearing face masks as a precaution against COVID-19 fall in line at the Monumento bus stop in Caloocan on January 3, 2021. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA - The Department of Health was not consulted in the move of Cebu province to lift the use of face masks outdoors, its spokesperson said Friday.&quot;Hindi po kami nakonsulta regarding this move or EO coming from Cebu. Gusto naming ipaalam sa&#x27;ming mga kababayan na ang DOH kasama po ang ating mga eksperto ay naninindigan na masks are still valuable in our response,&quot; Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told reporters. (We were not consulted regarding this move or EO coming from Cebu. We would like to let the public know that the DOH with our experts believe masks are still valuable in our response.)Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia, in Executive Order 16 issued Wednesday, said face masks would be required only in closed and air-conditioned areas.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/09/22/cebu-lifts-covid-19-mask-rule-outdoors">Cebu governor lifts COVID-19 mask rule for open spaces</a></li></ul>But Vergeire said the public must keep wearing face masks even outdoors if they are &quot;unvaccinated, in a crowded area, or in the presence of immunocompromised individuals or persons with comorbidities.&quot;&quot;The masks not only protects us from COVID-19 but also from other respiratory infections... as well as the monkeypox threatening the whole world. Maliit na sakripisyo para maprotektahan tayong mga kababayan natin at ang ating mga komunidad.&quot;(It&#x27;s a small sacrifice to protect us and our communities.)Vergeire added that local governments must follow policies made by the Inter-Agency Task Force Against COVID-19. The spokesperson also cited Republic Act No. 11332 or the Notifiable Diseases Act which she said provides that in the event of a public health emergency, policies issued by the national government should be complied with by all sectors including local governments.&quot;It is specifically stated in our IATF resolutions..all units under each of these govt agencies, including local government units should comply and abide with the protocols of IATF,&quot; she said.&quot;Hindi po pwede na merong isang lugar na iba ang pinapatupad compared to the rest of the country, kailangan lahat tayo isang buong bansa na lumalaban sa COVID-19.&quot;(It can&#x27;t be that one area has a different policy compared to the rest of the country, we should be one in fighting COVID-19.)Persons who violate health protocols such as wearing of face masks may be arrested &quot;if necessary,&quot; according to Interior Secretary Eduardo Año as he said his agency does not recognize Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia&#x27;s EO.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/10/22/dilg-does-not-recognize-cebu-order-lifting-face-mask-rule">DILG says it &#x27;does not recognize&#x27; Cebu order lifting face mask rule outdoors</a></li></ul>Filipinos are among the most compliant in wearing face masks worldwide, Vergeire said, citing a study by John Hopkins University.Face masks are added protection against the coronavirus and its mor transmissible variants and subvariants, according to Dr. Edsel Salvana, member of DOH technical advisory group.He cited Taiwan and Australia which he said were countries with high vaccination rates that are experiencing tens of thousands virus cases daily.&quot;The problem is it&#x27;s not enough to just be highly-vaccinated with these new variants. Kinakailangan po natin siya gamitan ng masks at ng other public health standards para di na tumaas lalo ang cases,&quot; he said.(We need to use masks and other public health standards so cases won&#x27;t rise further.)The Philippines remains under low-risk case classification for COVID-19 even as its daily average cases rose by 9 percent to 197 from June 2 to 8, from 180 the previous week, Vergeire said. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/31/22/slow-uptick-in-covid-cases-not-worrisome-doh">&#x27;Slow uptick&#x27; in COVID cases in Luzon not worrisome: health dept</a></li></ul><div>RELATED VIDEO</div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2071897" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

The Department of Health was not consulted in the move of Cebu province to lift the use of face masks outdoors, its spokesperson said Friday.

Health dept not consulted in Cebu's lifting of mask rule outdoors: spox

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Health dept not consulted in Cebu's lifting of mask rule outdoors: spox

Gillan Ropero,

ABS-CBN News

Published June 10, 2022 05:41 PM PHT

Read More:

Cebu

face masks

DOH

Department of Health

Philippines COVID-19

COVID-19

coronavirus

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