The Department of Health (DOH) advised the public to use surgical masks instead of cloth masks if possible following the continuous increase of COVID-19 cases in the country.
DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire recommended the use of the surgical masks to ensure the protection of the public against COVID-19 following the World Health Organization’s (WHO) interim recommendation for areas with high number of COVID-19 cases or areas with detected variants of concern (VOC).
”Sa ngayon po ang DOH ay nagrerekomenda kung inyo naman pong kakayanin sa ating mga komunidad na magkaroon tayo ng surgical mask for our community, yan po ang gamitin natin para mas maging protektado po tayo,” she said.
“Ngayon kung hindi talaga kaya at hindi magkakaroon ng face mask na surgical ang ating mga kababayan sa komunidad, cloth mask is still recommended naman. Hindi naman natin sinasabing hindi na pwedeng gamitin,” she added.
In relation to this, health experts reminded the public to properly wear their face masks and shields when going outside.
“Maraming nakasuot ng mask ngunit nakalitaw yung ilong, or di nakalapat nang maayos sa paligid ng kanilang ilong at bibig, at kahit ano pang gamitin nating klaseng mask, kung hindi maayos ang pagsuot, walang masyadong pakinabang,” DOH-Technical Advisory Group (TAG) fellow Dr. Anna Ong-Lim said.
Meanwhile, the OCTA Research group reported that the Philippines’ average daily attack rate (ADAR) has increased from 9.84 to 11.76 as of Aug. 17. It added that the local government units (LGUs) with the highest ADAR are Tuguegarao with 57.11, Mariveles with 52.14, and Makati City with 44.47.
Report from Mark Fetalco/NGS-rir
