Manila and nearby provinces will return to stricter quarantine measures from Monday, a senior official said on Saturday, as the Philippines battles to contain a surge in COVID-19 cases that has strained hospitals, APA reports citing Reuters.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the measures, which will be in place until April 4, will ban non-essential movement, mass gatherings, dining in restaurants. They represent a further tightening of curbs imposed on March 22.
Roque said the government will intensify tracing and conduct house-to-house visits to search for people with COVID-19 symptoms. There will also be a “heightened presence” of police and military personnel to enforce protocols, he added.
The health ministry on Saturday reported 9,595 new coronavirus cases, marking the second straight day the daily jump in infections remained above 9,000.
The capital region, a congested urban sprawl of 16 cities that is home to at least 13 million people, has accounted for more than two-fifths of the country’s more than 712,000 COVID-19 cases. There have been more than 13,000 deaths nationwide.
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