Manila area locked down to curb spread of the Delta variant
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte approved the imposition of lockdown measures in the capital region, in a bid to contain the spread of the Delta variant and shield the medical system
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte yesterday approved the imposition of lockdown measures in the capital region, in a bid to contain the spread of the Delta coronavirus variant and to shield the country's medical system.
The Manila capital region, a sprawl of 16 cities home to more than 13 million people, will be placed under the tightest quarantine curbs from August 6 to 20, Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in a televised address. "While it is a painful decision, this is for the good of all."
The lockdown, which is expected to cost the economy US$4 billion, will prevent people leaving their homes, except for essential shopping, while indoor and al fresco dining is banned.
"Delta is all over Metro Manila already. This is proper intervention," Benjamin Abalos, chairperson of the capital's council of mayors, said.
The mayors plan to step up vaccinations by administering 250,000 doses a day, up from 150,000 now, he said.
The highly transmissible Delta variant, first detected in India, has spread rapidly across much of Southeast Asia.
The Philippines also extended a ban on travellers coming from 10 countries including India, Indonesia, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates to August 15.
Already battling the second-worst coronavirus outbreak in Asia, the Philippines has so far recorded over 1.57 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 27,000 deaths.
The country has reported 216 cases of the Delta variant, but health experts say there could be more undetected cases because of the slow pace of the country's genome sequencing.
The second wave in the Philippine outbreak peaked in April but infections have started to rise again in recent weeks.
Currently, hospital occupancy in the capital area is 49 per cent, while the rate for intensive care beds is 58 per cent.
With only 7 per cent of the country's 110 million people is fully vaccinated, tens of millions remain vulnerable to COVID-19.
The lockdown prompted investors
to sell down stocks, with the Philippines' index slumping 3.5 per cent to its lowest close in more than nine weeks.
Economic Planning Secretary Karl Chua told reporters the lockdown could cost the economy 210 billion pesos ($4.18 billion), cut 444,000 jobs and increase the number of poor people by up to 177,000.
After suffering a record 9.6 per cent contraction in 2020, the Philippines is aiming for a 6.0-7.0 per cent economic expansion this year.
Japan decided yesterday to expand its COVID-19 state of emergency to Osaka and three prefectures near Tokyo as a recent spike in coronavirus cases to record levels has raised fears that the country's medical system could collapse amid the Tokyo Olympics.
Facing pressure to take stronger anti-virus measures, the government of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is expected to add Chiba, Kanagawa, Saitama and Osaka prefectures to areas under the emergency, which already covers Tokyo and Okinawa, from next Monday through August 31.
The COVID-19 emergency initially declared for Tokyo and Okinawa through August 22 will also be extended until the end of the month.
The new period overlaps with the Olympics that started last week and will run through August 8, and also partly cover the Paralympics period starting August 24.
The decision was finalised at a task force meeting in the afternoon after getting approval from experts in infectious diseases and other fields.
The government is also set to put five prefectures – Hokkaido, Ishikawa, Kyoto, Hyogo and Fukuoka – under a quasi-state of emergency, which carries fewer restrictions on business activity than the state of emergency, from Monday to the end of August.
The four prefectures to be newly included in the state of emergency areas are currently under a quasi-state of emergency.
Japan's daily total of COVID-19 cases eclipsed 10,000 for the first time on Thursday. Kanagawa reported 1,164 cases the same day, also a record single-day high. REUTERS/KYODO