THE CITY Health Office (CHO) recommended to the Davao City Schools Division superintendent to instruct public schools to use face masks considering the rise in viral illnesses among young students.
In a Sept. 27 letter addressed to Reynante M. Solitario, the Davao City Schools Division superintendent, acting city health officer Tomas Miguel Ababaon said they “highly recommend the use of face masks by the students and personnel inside the school premises and non-admission of symptomatic students to class.”
The recommendation came on the heels of the spike in viral respiratory illness among students.
Ababon said they have been recently receiving reports from several schools and pediatricians revealing that a lot of students are having flu-like symptoms such as coughs and colds.
“It is in accordance with the guidelines from the Department of Health na kung sick or merong symptoms, wear a mask, we might as well protect the children from having these diseases, para hindi naman sila mag-aabsent nang ganun katagal,” Ababon said.
Ababon added there are also schools that transitioned temporarily to online classes to ensure that students are safe from the illness.
In response to the city health’s directives, Solitario said they will instruct the schools but the wearing of face masks will only be voluntary.
“I advise my school heads to encourage only the wearing of face masks, I mean not compulsory,” Solitario said.
In his response letter to the CHO, Solitario wrote, “We are also requesting to remind everyone on the importance of proper hand hygiene, and respiratory etiquette to reduce the spread of respiratory illnesses.”
This is also in relation to the released DepEd Division Memorandum No. 612 s. 2023, entitled “Designation of School Disease Surveillance Officers in every school and Submission of Report on Disease Surveillance”.
In line with this, Councilor Justol-Baguilod, the committee on health chairperson, said last Tuesday, that “Davao City has been particularly hard-hit with 18,656 reported Influenza-like illnesses cases”.
“The public must be reminded to diligently follow minimum health protocols, which include regular hand washing, thorough disinfecting, and the use of face masks in public places. This is probably crucial within educational institutions, where our youth gather,” he added.
