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DOH: 'Risky' to lift face mask mandate as COVID cases rise, immunity wanes

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Gillan Ropero, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Commuters queue at the Monumento station of the EDSA Bus Carousel in Caloocan City on June 13, 2022. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/news/06/15/20220613-edsa-bus-carousel-md-7.jpg"/><figcaption>Commuters queue at the Monumento station of the EDSA Bus Carousel in Caloocan City on June 13, 2022.<em> Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA — It is risky for local governments to lift face mask mandates as COVID-19 cases increase, more transmissible subvariants enter the country, and immunity from vaccines wanes, the Department of Health said Wednesday.</p><p>Health Undersecretary and spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire made the remark after Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia issued an executive order making the use of face masks voluntary in open and well-ventilated areas.</p><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>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/11/22/doh-tells-local-govts-follow-only-one-protocol">DOH urges local govt&#x27;s to follow &#x27;only one protocol&#x27; as Cebu lifts face-mask rule outdoors</a></li></ul><p>Under the current rules of the Inter-Agency Task Force Against COVID-19, removing face masks outdoors is allowed for al fresco dining and exercise in open spaces, Vergeire said.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/14/22/duterte-directive-continue-wearing-face-masks">Palace says Duterte order &#x27;clear&#x27;: &#x27;Continue wearing face masks&#x27;</a></li></ul><p>&quot;If you go the mountain and you do not remove your mask that’s up to you, you’re all alone there. You can always do that and no one’s going to apprehend you,&quot; she told ANC&#x27;s Headstart.</p><p>&quot;If you as a local government announce to the public, that might be risky, especially now that cases have increased, especially now that subvariants have entered the country, and the country has waning immunity.&quot;</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/10/22/doh-says-not-consulted-in-cebus-lifting-of-mask-rule">Health dept not consulted in Cebu&#x27;s lifting of mask rule outdoors: spox</a></li></ul><p>The average daily new COVID-19 cases nationwide has increased 48 percent to 270 from 182 cases last week, according to the spokesperson. This is not yet alarming as there is no rise in severe and critical cases, Vergeire said.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/14/22/daily-covid-cases-in-ncr-might-reach-500-by-end-june-octa">Metro Manila&#x27;s daily COVID cases might reach 500 by end-June: OCTA</a></li></ul><p>The coronavirus &quot;crosses borders,&quot; Vergeire reminded local officials.</p><p>&quot;Transmission will not really stop if we’re going to implement this (mask mandate easing),&quot; she said.</p><p>&quot;We cannot be complacent at this point, nakikita pa rin nating maaaring mag-cause ng pagtaas ng kaso ang virus na ito (we can still see this virus can sill cause a rise in cases).&quot; </p><p>Meantime, giving the general population a second booster shot is not the answer to waning immunity, Vergeire said.</p><p>The second booster shot is currently limited to health workers, the elderly, and the immunocompromised. </p><p>&quot;The waning immunity stems from the fact that all of our primary series vaccines had been affected by the omicron variant. Therefore all of us who recovered the primary series should receive the (first) booster shot,&quot; she said.</p><p>As of Monday, a total of 69.8 million persons have been fully vaccinated, of whom 14.6 million have received an additional dose. Some 557,000 members of vulnerable sectors have received their second booster.</p><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=2078520" 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 DOH said it was risky for local officials to lift face mask mandates as COVID cases increase and more transmissible subvariants enter the country.

DOH: 'Risky' to lift face mask mandate as COVID cases rise, immunity wanes

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DOH: 'Risky' to lift face mask mandate as COVID cases rise, immunity wanes

Gillan Ropero,

ABS-CBN News

Published June 15, 2022 10:35 AM PHT

|

Updated June 15, 2022 11:01 AM PHT

Read More:

Headstart

COVID-19 vaccine

booster shot

DOH

Department of Health

Philippines COVID-19

Maria Rosario Vergeire

COVID-19

coronavirus

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