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Manila Enters Lockdown for Month; Duterte Mulls Curfew

  • President needs to approve Manila curfew plan: spokesman
  • Schools, government offices shut as Covid-19 cases rise
Members of a quarantine team set up a checkpoint area in Cainta City, Metro Manila, on March 14,

Members of a quarantine team set up a checkpoint area in Cainta City, Metro Manila, on March 14,

Photographer: Veejay Villafranca/Bloomberg
Updated on

Metro Manila, a region of 12 million people, entered a month-long lockdown on Sunday as Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte considers a plan to impose a curfew on the area to try to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

Hours after Metropolitan Manila Development Authority General Manager Jose Arturo Garcia Jr. said Saturday that a 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew will be implemented from Sunday until April 14, Duterte spokesman Salvador Panelo said the president had yet to approve the measure. The city will go into lockdown during this period, with schools and government offices largely shut, as the number of local Covid-19 cases climbed this week.