Philippines Expert is Calling for Reinstatement of Outdoor Mask Mandates in Reaction to the slight observed Uptick in Mild Covid-19 Cases

US CDC No Longer Requires Masking, even in most Health Care Settings. Ironically, Philippines has 8x fewer reported C19 cases and 4x fewer reported C19 deaths than US! Is Philippines Overreacting?

Philippines “Expert” is calling for the reinstatement of outdoor mask mandates, as they are seeing an increase in mild cases!

Let me be clear, most people I see in Manila are still wearing masks indoors and outdoors here. There are still people double masking; including recently a local school which issued all children with a second mask for double protection immediately following one child in a classroom testing positive on a covid-19 test!

There are even still people using respirators with personal mechanical filter devices (I saw a few of those at the mall last weekend)! I see many people exercising, by themselves, alone in the early hours of the morning still wearing masks! Outdoor masking has certainly not stopped in the Philippines! I see very few smiles when I walk to my office every day!

Meanwhile US CDC has removed requirements for masks in most settings, including healthcare settings!

Surely the Philippines must be having many more cases and deaths than the US for such a reaction, such a need for reliance on masks here in the Philippines?

But NO, the rate of cases in the Philippines are more than 8x lower than those in the US, and reported deaths are 4x lower! Hardly a dire situation in the Philippines as compmared to the US, which is mostly getting on with life!

Dr. de Grano, could you possibly be overreacting?

More on Masks

Masks, as commonly used in the Philippines surely increase infection risks, not reduce them. Most people wear fabric, surgical, or n95 masks of some type! Masks are not well fitted. They are taken on and off and touched frequently, as well as being worn for extended periods. Many people reuse their masks! Sometimes for multiple days without washing! This will make them a reservoir of potential infection as bacteria, fungi, yeast and other organisms will thrive on damp grubby masks!

Facemasks are also devastating for the environment and a source of polluting environmental microplastics. Cleaning up beached medical waste in Manila after the just passed storm! On one single short beach 400 bags of trasher were collected!

Aside from causing dermatological conditions, microplastics/ mask fibers also accumulate in the lungs of users; these may be expected to contribute to lung disease! The burden of new lung disease resulting from mask use has yet to be given much attention.

Further information on masking from Brownstone.org for any interested readers.