BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The wearing of face mask outdoors is now optional in Negros Occidental.
This was stipulated in an executive order number 22-45, series of 2022, which has been issued by Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson on September 9.
Lacson, however, pointed out that wearing of face masks in indoor spaces, including hospitals and medical facilities, is still mandatory.
He also required those entering the Provincial Capitol to wear face masks.
Earlier, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) recommended the voluntary use of face masks outdoors.
The Department of Health (DOH), however, clarified the optional wearing of face mask is only for low-risk individuals and in low risk settings.
Despite his issued executive order, Lacson said that he will continue to appeal to senior citizens and immunocompromised persons to continue to wear face masks.
As of Sept. 10, Negros Occidental logged 168 COVID-19 cases, with two deaths.*
