The “no mask, no entry” policy set by some supermarkets, pharmacies, and restaurants is not among the measures being enforced as part of the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine, a Palace official said.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said these establishments should continue to allow customers to enter their places of business for as long as the one-meter social distancing rule is observed.
“We don’t have any rule from the Inter-Agency Task Force that requires people to wear masks before entering supermarkets.”
“Wala naman kaming nilabas na patakaran mula sa Inter-Agency Task Force na kailangan magsuot ng mask bago pumasok ng supermarket (We don’t have any rule from the Inter-Agency Task Force that requires people to wear masks before entering supermarkets),” Nograles said in a Laging Handa public briefing.
The Palace official added that establishments are also limiting the number of people allowed inside and are regularly conducting disinfection against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
Netizens have criticized the “no mask, no entry” rule due to the limited supply of surgical face masks in the country.
In the same briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said there is also a global shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE).
Besides the supplies expected from local manufacturers, Vergeire said the Department of Health is currently relying on donations of protective gear from other countries which are then distributed to health workers and other frontline workers tasked to contain COVID-19.
“There are no more sellers that’s why we’re relying on donations.”
“Gusto man po nating bumili ngayon, wala tayong mabilhan kaya tayo ay umaasa sa ating mga donasyon sa ngayon (Even if we want to purchase more masks, there are no more sellers that’s why we’re relying on donations),” the health official stressed.
Last March 18, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez assured that the supply of face masks will soon be replenished after a Bataan-based manufacturer had agreed to supply 5 million face masks from March to April.
The manufacturer was able to produce 200,0000 face masks per day despite the huge demand.
“We will have another request to increase the preposition and the allotment for the Philippines since we recognize that even these numbers are not enough to provide for all Filipinos,” Lopez said in a press briefing in Malacañang.
President Rodrigo Duterte has placed the country under a state of public health emergency and a state of calamity due to the highly-infectious COVID-19 which was declared by the World Health Organization as a pandemic.