Metro Manila lockdown extended a week

Eerily quiet: The Manila City Hall is seen beside an almost empty road as the government implements a strict lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Manila, Philippines. — AP

President Rodrigo Duterte ordered Metro Manila and four nearby provinces to remain under the strictest lockdown for at least another week to contain the surge in Covid-19 cases.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the president approved a recommendation by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to extend the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in the National Capital Region (NCR) and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal.