Dr. Ligaya Lakambini Dargantes, Mandaue City the assistant city health officer.
MANDAUE CITY, Philippines — The Mandaue City Health Office would still advocate for the wearing of face masks.
Dr. Ligaya Lakambini Dargantes, the assistant city health officer said that even if a person is vaccinated against COVID-19, he can still be infected with the virus, especially without the minimum health standards such as the wearing of face mask.
Although a COVID-19 vaccine can protect individuals from getting severe symptoms of the virus if infected, she added.
“The city health office is always under the guidance of the Department of Health at the same time we are always following the guidelines that they present to us, so we would still advocate for the wearing of face masks, especially that sa pagkakarun the vaccines that we are having right now, is on trial, muingun tag on trial pasabot nga we are still trying to target all the possible variants coming in,” said Dargantes.
The assistant city health officer said they were waiting for the World Health Organization and Department of Health to announce that the vaccines are already enough to protect individuals even without having to wear a face mask.
Dargantes added that Mandaue City, being a highly urbanized city had a different set-up compared to the areas in the province.
She said that the city did not have so many open spaces as compared to the province.
“Highly urbanized city manggud so daghan gyud og tawo dili kaayo daghan og open spaces. We’re still advocating for the wearing of face mask,” said Dargantes.
Even if the city currently has a few active COVID-19 cases and a very high vaccination rate, there is still a possibility of a spike, she said.
Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes is set to meet with the city’s local health board today to discuss Governor Gwendolyn Garcia’s EO for the optional wearing of face masks in open spaces. /rcg
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