Lockdown in Philippines extended to April 30

A worker constructing a cubicle in a quarantine facility under construction at the World Trade Centre in Manila (April 7). Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte announced that Phillipines will extend a lockdown of more than half the country’s population on its main island until April 30 to further stem the coronavirus outbreak. - Bloomberg

MANILA: The Philippine president on Tuesday (April 7) has extended by half a month to April 30 a lockdown that requires millions of people in the country’s main northern region to stay home amid the Covid-19 (coronavirus) outbreak.

President Rodrigo Duterte said in a late-night TV speech that the government was desperately looking for more funds for a massive cash and food aid intended to prevent the poor from starving to death. There have been appeals for middle-class families to be given emergency aid too, he said.