MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has extended partial coronavirus restrictions in the capital, Manila, until the end of February to prevent the spread of COVID-19 after year-end holidays, warning the curbs could further delay economic recovery.
From one of Asia's fastest-growing nations before the pandemic, the Philippines suffered its worst economic decline in 2020 as a strict coronavirus lockdown closed businesses and put millions out of work. The Manila region, which accounts for 40 percent of the country's economic output and is home to at least 12 million people, remains the epicenter for the outbreak in the Philippines, which has the second-highest caseload in Southeast Asia.
Some restrictions have been slowly eased, but a new rise in the number of coronavirus infections and local transmission of a more contagious COVID-19 variant have averted the Philippines from reopening its economy faster.
The presidential spokesman confirmed in a statement restrictions that include limited operations at shopping malls and dine-in eateries, as well as curbs on gatherings and public transport capacity, would be prolonged.
Acting economic planning chief Karl Kendrick Chua separately warned the country must learn to live with the virus to avoid derailing an economic recovery. "There's no country that I know with a level of quarantine that is so broad, so deep and so long", Chua told foreign correspondents on Friday.
The Philippine economy contracted 9.5% in 2020, the biggest slump on record. Manila on Friday also relaxed travel curbs on foreigners coming from more than 30 countries, including the United States and China.
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