BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Wearing of face mask is still a must at the Provincial Capitol in Bacolod City.
This was stressed by Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, in response to the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, to lift the mandatory wearing of face masks in outdoor areas.
As soon as there is an executive order issued by Malacañang to make optional the use of face masks in outdoors, Lacson said it will be implemented by the provincial government of Negros Occidental.
Department of Health officer in charge Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire has clarified that the total lifting of the mask mandate would be pilot-tested toward the end of the year, provided there is an improvement in the COVID-19 booster vaccine coverage.
Lacson reminded Negrenses that it is still a requirement to use face masks indoors.
Negros Occidental yesterday logged 25 new COVID-19 cases, bringing to162 the total cases as of September 9, with 44 recoveries.
With the onset of MassKara Festival in Bacolod City, the city government and provincial government are strengthening efforts to monitor the entry of visitors at ports or at the Bacolod Silay airport.
Asked on optional wearing of face masks, Lacson said that since the start of the pandemic, the provincial government has been relying on advises of DOH and IATF-EID. “If they say we are okay, then we’re okay, at least for outdoors,” he added.
The recommendation of IATF-EID on the voluntary use of face masks outdoors is now under President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s thorough scrutiny.
This developed after Marcos met yesterday with officials of the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) at the Malacañang Palace in Manila
“With regard to this, we are now studying the IATF’s recommendation on the optional wearing of face mask,” Marcos said in a statement posted on his official Facebook page.
Marcos said he was “happy” that the government’s intensified vaccination campaign against the coronavirus has helped lower COVID-19 cases.
Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles on Thursday said Filipinos are still required to wear face masks, until optional use becomes policy.* with PNA reports
