DOH denies return of mandatory masks in Metro Manila

MANILA, April 28 ----- The Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday denied that Metro Manila would bring back the mandatory use of anti-COVID masks following an uptick in coronavirus infections.

The DOH said a viral social media post on the supposed return of the mask mandate was "false. "It also clarified that Metro Manila would remain under Alert Level 1, the lowest and most relaxed in the government's COVID-19 alert level system, until April 30.

This means restrictions in the area would "remain to be in the status quo," the DOH said in a statement. "The Department clarifies that the current Alert Level System is still being discussed through the IATF, and the DOH has previously recommended that these alert levels be similar to typhoon warnings and a guidance system in the future," it added.

The DOH earlier clarified an April 14 resolution made by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), which listed 26 areas under Alert Level 2. The said areas were not escalated from Alert Level 1, as they have been under the second alert level since June last year.

"While these areas have reached low risk classifications for cases and utilization rates, these have vaccination rates lower than 70 percent of the target total and population," the DOH said in a statement last Sunday. "Also, no province or city has been escalated to alert level 2 from alert level 1 since January 2023," it added.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com