Face mask policy in Davao City stays

Lopez made the clarification following reports that the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) will lift the face mask requirement.

He said the city continues to impose the face mask policy because it is a city ordinance. 

“Unlike other provinces and cities they do not have such ordinance. They just follow the IATF but for Davao City, we are unique because we have this ordinance to follow and impose,” he said. 

Lopez further said the campaign against Covid-19 is not over yet, although the city recorded a low community transmission.

As of September 7, the city has recorded 114 fresh cases of Covid-19 and this is a high number compared to the surge in January 2022. The city has a running total of 610 active Covid-19 cases. The weekly recovery rate is high at 96.5 percent.

Lopez added  that the Covid situation in the city is.manageable  since 96 percent of the cases are classified as asymptomatic or mild. 

"That means that we do not have to worry about hospitalizations. In fact, the utilization rate of our hospitals is quite low, around 30 percent,” he said. 

He also said that the city has not detected any post-Kadayawan surge as cases have actually plateaued. The seven-day moving average in the city remains at 76 cases per day.

Lopez renewed his call to Davaoeños to follow the requirement of wearing face masks, and also maintain ventilation, especially in workplaces because these areas may become sources of transmission. 

The city continuously encourages the eligible population to get vaccinated and boosted with Covid-19 vaccines to continue building a strong wall of immunity against the virus.