The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) is considering the implementation of a “liberalized” protocol in the wearing of face mask outdoors, specially among so-called low-risk individuals.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Press Secretary Beatrix “Trixie” Cruz-Angeles announced IATF issued its Resolution No. 1, series of 2022, which seeks to ease the mandatory wearing of face masks nationwide.

“This [wearing of face masks] will become optional in open spaces or non-crowded outdoor areas with good ventilation, provided that senior citizens and those immunocompromised individuals are highly encouraged to continue wearing masks,” Angeles said.

The Palace official stressed President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. might approve the IATF recommendation and issue a new executive order before the new policy can take effect.

Department of Health (DOH) Officer in Charge Maria Rosario S. Vergeire said Marcos has only given his verbal approval on the said new policy as of Wednesday.

The optional wearing of face masks is expected to be piloted in some areas by the last quarter of the year, “provided there is improvement in the Covid-19 booster vaccination coverage,” according to Angeles.

Vergeire noted they will only consider there is such an “improvement” if they would be able to provide booster shots beyond their initial target of 30 percent of the eligible population.

As of September 6, 2022 data from DOH showed only over 18.33 million or about 25 percent of the 72.67 million completed their Covid-19 primary doses got their booster shots.

Health experts recommended for those who are fully vaccinated to get their boosters due to the waning effect of primary Covid-19 jabs.

Depending on the results of the National Booster Week from September 26 to 29 and the overall result of the government’s  vaccination drive, Vergeire said the IATF might also consider easing of indoor face mask protocols.

“We are now drafting the concept paper on how the pilot should be implemented. When we say pilot, we are going to implement it in selected areas nationwide to see if our system could handle it or not,” Vergeire said.

The IATF issued its new resolution after reviewing earlier this week a recent executive order issued by Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama, which made the wearing of face masks outdoors optional.

The policy contradicted existing IATF protocols since removal of face masks outdoors is only allowed when eating or during certain well-ventilated activities.

Aside from Cebu City, Interior Secretary Benjamin D. Abalos Jr. said IATF received appeals from other local government units for them to be allowed to also lift their own facemask mandate.

Abalos noted that the IATF decided to recommend the easing  after data presented by experts showed that there were minimal differences in the Covid-19 cases in countries in Southeast Asia with mandatory face mask wearing and those which removed the requirement.

In the said data, Abalos said, Covid-19 cases for Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam actually declined even after they eased their mask wearing protocols.

During the IATF deliberations, Abalos said experts presented comparative data of countries, which lifted their mask mandate and those which still implement the said policy.

“There was not much difference on the rise of cases [between the two groups],” Abalos said.

Angeles said the government is also considering easing the protocols in wearing of face masks upon the recommendation of the Department of Tourism (DOT) to attract more foreign tourists.

“DOT made the push, saying that in certain states where there was easing in face mask [protocols], there was an increase in their tourism,” Angeles said in Filipino.     

“Since tourism is in front and center of our economic recovery, this matter is being taken seriously,” she added. 

In the data cited by Abalos, tourist arrivals in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and even Indonesia rose by 35.6 percent to as high as 771.1 percent after they lifted their mask mandate.

Currently, tourist arrivals in the country was pegged at 722,217, which is almost at par with the 733,000 of Vietnam and 743,000 of Indonesia after they already eased their face mask protocols.

Easing of outdoor face mask rule

GO Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion, meanwhile,  welcomed the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to lift the outdoor mask mandate, adding that it is now crucial for the Philippines to have mitigation strategies already in place.

These mitigation strategies against Covid-19 include stocking up on antiviral pills, which he believes is a more practical move.

“We should ensure that we have enough supply of antiviral pills, especially Paxlovid, which we are currently out of stock in the country. This will become crucial as people start moving around without masks outdoors,” Concepcion said in a news statement.

“If voluntary outdoor masking becomes policy, it will allow Filipinos to manage their own risks,” he said. “We must be diligent in practicing common-sense health protocols like having good ventilation, physical distancing, and handwashing. I think we have had enough practice in the last two years to know how to keep ourselves from being infected,” he said.

Meanwhile, OCTA Research fellow Fr. Nicanor Austriaco, OP, suggested that masking must remain on public transportation and health care facilities.

“This will allow some Omicron spread but in light of the decision of many Filipinos not to get boosted, it is better to allow for Omicron illness among those whose immunity is waning now to strengthen population immunity rather than to face a possible deadlier variant in six months that could kill more people,” he said.

Hybrid immunity, or immunity from both vaccination and infection has been cited as one of the reasons for the relatively low incidences of Covid deaths in the Philippines in the last month compared to the same period last year. But even scientists who put forward the opinion that natural immunity is more robust than vaccine immunity still believe that getting vaccinated and boostered would be the best strategy in avoiding illness.

Concepcion had earlier noted that booster vaccinations remain a challenge, but that he is supportive of the government’s vaccination efforts. He said, however, that vaccination mandates may not be practical at this time as the focus has now shifted to nursing the economy back to health.

Other mitigation strategies will also depend on whether or not President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. follows through with his plan to extend the State of Public Health Emergency until end-2022.

“This will affect how the new vaccines will be purchased. If the manufacturers are able to secure Certificates of Product Registration for their vaccines and sell these through drug stores or we continue with an Emergency Use Authorization, all this must be cleared soon once the President makes his decision,” said Concepcion.

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