DOH projects 18K COVID cases daily due to voluntary wearing of facemasks

If people stop wearing face masks, the number of new COVID-19 infections in the country might reach 18,000 per day in November or December, according to Department of Health (DOH) officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire on Thursday.

According to Vergeire, the DOH presented such a possibility during a discussion of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) last week, where it was announced that wearing face masks in indoor spaces would be made voluntary.

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“Sinasabi sa projections na towards November and December of this year, kung magtatanggal tayo ng masks, maaaring tumaas ang kaso natin from 2,500 at the lower limit, to as high as 18,000,” she said in a radio interview.

Dr. Rontgene Solante, a specialist in infectious illnesses, cautioned against a potential rise in COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, especially in light of the new discovery of the Omicron XBB subvariant and XBC variant.

Since the coronavirus is still present and still evolving, Vergeire stated that COVID-19 infections are actually anticipated to increase as a result of this development.

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She emphasized, however, that what is crucial is that the number of severe and critical cases be kept to a minimum and that hospital usage be kept under control.

DOH projects 18K COVID cases daily due to voluntary wearing of facemasks

In light of the nation’s still-slow booster uptake, the Health official also urged the people to examine their dangers before removing their masks indoors.

According to the DOH’s national COVID-19 vaccination dashboard, at least 20.4 million of the 73.4 million Filipinos who have obtained all of their vaccinations have also received their booster doses.

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“Sa ngayon, we highly encourage our citizens para tumanggap ng boosters, pero talagang napaka-slow ng uptake ngayon,” Vergeire said.

“What we need to do really is to assess our risks kapag tayo ay lalabas o kaya ay pupunta sa indoor spaces. Kung sa tingin ninyo ay kakaunti lang ang tao o sa tingin ninyo, hindi naman kayo vulnerable, then very well, you can voluntarily remove your masks,” she added.

In order to increase the primary vaccine series and booster consumption among Filipinos, she claimed that there are already 19,000 immunization locations put up around the country.

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