HEADS UP: Should You Mask Up Inside the House? (March 19)

Here's a Heads Up from Reportr.World on news that you need to know today, March 19:

NEWS YOU CAN USE

• Should you wear a face mask at home? It's an option if you are living with people who are vulnerable to severe COVID, said Dr. Beverly Ho of the DOH on Summit Sandwich Sessions.
• What to do if down with the quarantine blues? One year of restrictions is taking its toll, the DOH also offered these tips to help deal with pandemic fatigue.
• Planning a trip at the time when the virus is resurgent? The DOH suggests getting a flexible booking that can be canceled if necessary.
• Planning a Boracay trip? Saliva tests are now accepted, as long as they're done by the Philippine Red Cross.

TOP STORIES

• Call centers are facing a new threat: chatbots that are getting better at mimicking human empathy. Can Philippine BPOs survive the AI wave?
• Local curfews appear to be working, the surge would not be as severe as expected. Still, thousands could fall sick, according to OCTA research.
• At the PGH, abandoned hospital beds are covered in blooms and house plants as a tribute to frontliners who died fighting the pandemic.
• It's getting too hot for comfort in Metro Manila, real feel, 40 degrees Celsius. Here's why.
• #FreeBritney continues, Britney Spears' lawyers will again ask U.S. courts to permanently remove her father from her personal affairs.
• The WHO is recommending the single dose J&J vaccine for countries grappling with COVID variants.
• The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry is appealing to the government to allow its members to import vaccines without restrictions.
• Teleperformance in the Philippines said it planned to vaccinate its 47,000 employees for free.
• Two Robinsons Malls joined dry runs vaccination programs of local governments.
• The House of Representatives is under lockdown to give way to disinfection as part of measures to contain the COVID surge.