MANILA, Philippines — The province of Bohol and the town of Cainta in Rizal will be under quarantine to stave off the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.
This comes after President Rodrigo Duterte placed Metro Manila’s nearly 13 million people under a month-long quarantine, restricting domestic travel to and from the capital region.
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Mayor Johnielle Keith Nieto announced the town of Cainta will be placed under quarantine starting March 15. He did not specify how long the quarantine will last.
A municipality or city-wide quarantine is advised when there are at least two positive COVID-19 cases belonging to different barangays.
Three of the country’s 52 COVID-19 cases are from Cainta. Of the three, two have died—a 62-year-old man who is the Philippines’ first confirmed local case and his 59-year-old wife.
The province of Bohol will be also placed under community quarantine from the midnight of March 16 to March 20.
Visitors from outside the Central Visayas province will not be allowed to enter for the duration of the quarantine.
A province-wide quarantine is advised when there are at least two COVID-19 patients belonging to different municipalities and cities in the same province.
Bohol has no confirmed COVID-19 case but there are two patients under investigation in the province—a French tourist who traveled to Vietnam and a Filipino seaman who came from Singapore and stayed for five days in Manila.
Across the globe, cases now stand at more than 125,000 and 4,600 deaths. — Gaea Katreena Cabico