Nearly 4,000 youths get COVID-19 in schools before full face-to-face classes, voluntary masking
MANILA, Philippines — Even before the government mandated full face-to-face classes in public schools and dropped the mask mandate, 3,939 people aged 12 to 17 contracted COVID-19 in schools, according to the Department of Health.
DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said Friday in a news briefing that she received reports that from September 1 to November 3, there were around 3,900 cases of COVID-19 that were logged in different schools across the country.
But Vergeire said that none of the cases were severe and no one among those who were infected died.
Despite recording infections even before the resumption of full in-person classes and the national government’s move to make mask wearing optional in both indoors and outdoors, Vergeire said this should not be an obstacle for students to return to their classrooms physically.
"All of these infections does not outweigh the benefit if we open up the classes because it is very much essential for the mental health, wellness of our students and our children,” Vergeire said.
Learners in public schools have returned to full in-person classes since November 2, nearly a week after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. lifted the mask mandate in an effort to spur economic recovery.
But the DOH itself is hammering down on the importance of mask wearing as it highlighted its importance in preventing infections, which it said may surge up to 18,000 per day under the current laxer masking rules. — Xave Gregorio
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