Asean Latest: Lockdown extended for metro Manila, surrounding

Quiapo church stands beside an almost empty road as the government implements a strict lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Manila, Philippines. Filipinos marked Jesus Christ's crucifixion Friday in one of the most solemn holidays in Asia's largest Catholic nation which combined with a weeklong coronavirus lockdown to empty Manila's streets of crowds and heavy traffic jams. Major highways and roads were eerily quiet on Good Friday and churches were deserted too after religious gatherings were prohibited in metropolitan Manila and four outlying provinces. - AP

MANILA, April 5 (AP): The Philippine government extended a lockdown by another week Monday after an alarming spike in coronavirus infections continued to surge and started to overwhelm many hospitals in the capital and outlying regions.

President Rodrigo Duterte placed Metropolitan Manila and four outlying provinces, a region of more than 25 million people, back under lockdown last week as daily infections breached the 10,000-mark.