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MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines announced on Tuesday an extension of the closure of its capital, Manila, to 11 weeks, extending one of the world’s strictest and longest community quarantines until June to try to contain the coronavirus outbreaks.
That would hamper a global trend to ease blockades as countries try to strike a balance between containment and restore some normalcy to limit economic damage.
President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday mentioned an extension in “some areas” and his spokesman Harry Roque later confirmed the deadline and retention of the closure in the largest cities, Manila and Cebu.
That means Manila, which accounts for two-thirds of the country’s infections and 72% of deaths, will be closed for 11 weeks or 80 days, more than the 76-day quarantine in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the world’s epicenter of the virus.
“The blockade had a great impact on COVID cases, but it also affected the economy,” Roque said in a briefing. “Government resources are limited, so we have to generate resources for the long-term fight against COVID. In the future, if without economic interventions, the result would be more damaging than the effects of COVID.”
Restrictions will be reduced in most of the country in areas considered least risky, and some essential economic activities will be allowed in the capital, said Roque, in an attempt to restart an economy headed for recession due to a sharp drop in internal consumption. The main driver.
That has slowed the two decades of uninterrupted growth in the first quarter, which fell to 0.2% compared to the previous year, well below economists’ expectations of a 3.1% expansion.
The Philippines has recorded more than 11,000 coronavirus infections and 726 deaths, but so far it has only tested 158,000 people, far fewer than other countries, making it difficult to measure the full extent of the spread.
Duterte had warned the public against complacency and said that wearing masks was “mandatory.”
“Remember that the reduction of restrictions, this does not mean that COVID no longer exists,” he said. “We cannot allow a second or third wave to happen.”
The closure of Manila has mandated home quarantine, social distancing, restrictions on transportation, immigration and outdoor exercise since mid-March, and limits the movement of workers in essential sectors and one adult per household for visits to supermarkets, pharmacies or clinics.
The Philippines was one of the first countries to ban flights to and from China after three Chinese visitors tested positive, and it was the third country after China and Italy to order quarantine at home, even though there was only a fraction of cases reported elsewhere.
That move aimed to prevent his under-resourced health sector from being overwhelmed.
(Additional report by Karen Lema. Gerry Doyle edition)
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