COVID-19: Philippines to quarantine 57M people

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) - The Philippines on Monday imposed an "enhanced community quarantine" on an area housing nearly 57 million people in the country's northern Luzon island which also houses capital Manila.

Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo informed journalists today that "enhanced community quarantine" would be imposed "immediately," according to the Manila-based Rappler.com.

The move came after the country reported more coronavirus cases on Sunday. Officials said 11 people have died in the country due to the infection while another 140 have tested positive for the disease including additional cases yesterday.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government will issue guidelines on the Luzon lockdown that aims at halting the spread of the deadly disease, officially known as COVID-19.

The government will impose strict quarantine for all households, transportation will be suspended, and provision of food and "essential health services" will be regulated, the report added.

It also planned to increase the deployment of uniformed personnel to implement quarantine measures across all eight regions of the country.

The novel coronavirus which causes the disease known as COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan, China last December, and has spread to at least 146 countries and territories.

The global death toll now numbers around 6,500, with more than 164,000 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization which declared the outbreak a pandemic.