MANILA: Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday extended partial Covid-19 restrictions within the capital and nearby provinces till mid-June to contain infections that have been decreasing since hitting a peak in April.
Religious gatherings remain limited to 30 percent of venue capacity while dining in restaurants can operate at 20 percent in the capital region, the urban sprawl of 16 cities that’s home to at least 13 million individuals and nearby provinces.
Non-essential travels will remain banned.
Every day COVID-19 cases within the Philippines averaged roughly 6,300 for May, down by a third from April, after the government reduced the operating capacity of businesses and limited the movement of people.
Duterte also extends the ban on inbound travel from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates till Jun 15, to prevent transmission of the coronavirus variant first discovered in India that’s circulating widely in that nation and the region.
Travelers coming directly from those nations, or with a history of travel to any of them within the last 14 days, will be denied entry. The Philippines has reported 13 COVID-19 cases tied to the more infectious Indian variant known as B16172.
The Philippines has the second-highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in Southeast Asia, next to Indonesia.
