Lockdown reimposed in Manila after government reverses course

This article is more than 12 months old

Sep 08, 2021 06:00 am

MANILA : The Philippines reimposed a lockdown in capital Manila yesterday, a day after announcing the lifting of stay-at-home orders for more than 13 million people.

The government had planned to start trialling "granular lockdowns" in the national capital region from today, despite record infections fuelled by the hyper-contagious Covid-19 Delta variant.

The surprise plan - which had been accompanied by few details on how it would be enforced - would have placed households, buildings, streets or neighbourhoods in a hard lockdown, instead of the entire capital.

But the government's Covid-19 task force reversed course yesterday, saying current rules would be extended until Sept 15 - or until the trial for targeted lockdowns was implemented.

"Whichever comes first," explained presidential spokesman Harry Roque, without providing a reason for the decision. - AFP