Duterte locks down Philippine capital for a month to fight virus

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte announced that he’s placing the capital region on a lockdown for a month to help contain the outbreak of the new coronavirus.

Duterte is also restricting entry for travelers from countries with local transmission, and suspending domestic travel to and from Metro Manila - a region of more than 12 million people - from March 15 to April 14, subject to daily review.

“We don’t want to use that, afraid to say lockdown, but it is a lockdown,” Duterte said in a televised briefing in Manila. After his speech, the Department of Health announced that three more people had died of the virus, taking the total to five out of the 52 confirmed cases in the Philippines.

Schools will remain shut until April 12 and public gatherings prohibited. Local officials are empowered to impose community- to province-wide quarantine.

Duterte also suspended work in the executive branch of government for a month, leaving only a skeletal force in place for vital services, while he encouraged private companies to adopt flexible work arrangements.

He lifted the ban on overseas Filipino workers traveling to mainland China, except Hubei province.