MANILA — An infectious disease expert supports the Department of Health's stand on the voluntary use of face masks despite an increase in COVID-19 cases.

But masking should be encouraged among high-risk, vulnerable populations such as people who are immunocompromised and unvaccinated, Dr. Rontgene Solante said Wednesday.

"I fully agree with what DOH is telling us that masking will continue to be voluntary," he told ANC's "Headstart".

The health agency sees no need to reimpose strict mask rules even with an uptick in coronavirus infections. The country's quarantine and isolation protocols will also not be amended.

• DOH: Reinstatement of mask mandate not being considered amid COVID uptick

The recent rise in COVID-19 positivity rate, or the percentage of tests turning out positive for the virus, is also not a cause for alarm, Solante said.

"Those numbers are not really something we need to worry about," he said. "Most of the cases are mild and most likely these are those who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated."

An uptick in COVID-19 cases will always be possible, said Solante. This comes as more people gather and travel and the presence of highly transmissible omicron subvariants.

He also noted the boosted population remains low.

• Philippines' COVID-19 positivity rate climbs to 7.6 pct

As of March 20, more than 78.4 million Filipinos are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Of the figure, over 23.8 million have received their first booster dose while almost 4.4 million have gotten the second booster shot.