Crowds at the Munoz market in Quezon city, Philippines. Philippines has reported more than 721,800 confirmed coronavirus disease infections with 13,170 deaths, the second highest in Southeast Asia after Indonesia. Philippine officials placed Metropolitan Manila and four outlying provinces, a region of more than 25 million people, back to a lockdown Monday at the height of the Lenten and Easter holiday travel season as they scrambled to control an alarming surge in coronavirus infections, AP reports. The renewed lockdown brought President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration under fire for what critics say was its failed handling of the pandemic. A curfew in the capital region and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal was also expanded to 11 hours starting at 6:00pm.

Source: The Standard March 29, 2021 03:22 UTC