MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines will expand the stricter COVID-19 rules to include four provinces around the capital Manila and restrict travel to and from these areas for two weeks from Monday, as the country struggles against a new outbreak of infections.
Restrictions currently in place in the Manila metropolitan area will also be imposed in the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal, including night curfews and a ban on mass meetings, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said on Sunday.
Only essential trips to and from the capital region and the four provinces, which Roque called the bubble area, will be allowed.
“This is not a hard block,” he said in a virtual briefing. “But we have additional restrictions.”
Meetings will be allowed for weddings, baptisms and funeral services, but limited to a maximum of 10 people.
Travel will remain unimpeded within the bubble area, but only individuals aged 18 to 65 are allowed outdoors.
Travel to and from the bubble area is limited to health and emergency services personnel, government officials and frontline government personnel, people traveling for medical and humanitarian reasons, and those who go to the airport to travel. to the outside.
The restaurants will remain open, but only for delivery services, delivery and outdoor dining.
The Philippines recorded an additional 7,757 cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, the second largest single-day increase in the Southeast Asian country and marks the third consecutive day of new confirmed cases exceeding 7,000.
The total number of cases registered in the Philippines increased to 663,794, while confirmed deaths reached 12,968, among the highest in Asia.
The health department called on the public to ensure adherence to minimum public health standards, which include wearing masks even at home when you are not alone.
(Reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz; Editing by Kim Coghill, Sam Holmes and David Evans)