Wearing of face masks not yet mandatory in Metro Manila amid flu season—DOH
Wearing of face masks is not yet mandatory in Metro Manila amid the rise of influenza-like illnesses, as there's no significant increase in hospitalization to merit such a measure, the Department of Health said.
In an interview with radio station DZMM, DOH Spokesperson Asec. Albert Domingo reiterated that there is no cause of public alarm and that the current increase of influenza-like cases could still be attributed to the flu season.
"Ang tinitignan kasi natin kapag nag-iisip tayo ng mandato ay ang pagtaas ng bilang ng mga naoospital ng malala. Tignan natin kung napupuno ‘yung mga ICU, wala pa tayong nakikitang ganyan," Domingo said.
Nevertheless, Domingo did not disregard the value of wearing face masks in public even without a mandate.
“Hindi naman ‘yan sa mandato, nasa pag-gamit ‘yan,” he said
"Wala namang mawawala kung magsuot ng face mask ng tamang paraan. At mapoprotektahan pa natin ang ating mga mahal sa buhay,” the Health Asistant Secretary added.
Recently, Quezon Province and Camarines Norte have implemented a mandatory face mask policy due to rising cases of influenza and flu-like illness.
Domingo added that the agency's disease reporting unit logged 10,740 influenza-like illnesses from Sept. 14 to 27. The cases decreased from Sept. 28 to Oct. 11 with 6,457 cases.
"Wala pong dahilan para magsabi na may outbreak dahil ang datos ay nagpapakita po niyan," he said.
However, he noted that the influenza-like illness cases could still increase, so people should still take precautions.
The DOH earlier said that there is no flu-like outbreak and that the number of cases this early October are lower compared to last year.
