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Philippine authorities restricted travel to and from the capital and surrounding regions for about two weeks as coronavirus cases reached records.
Metropolitan Manila and neighboring provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal will be put in a “bubble” from March 22 to April 4, Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in a live briefing on Sunday. Travel within the bubble will be unhindered, he said.
Religious gatherings and indoor dining in restaurants are prohibited, while attendance at weddings, baptisms and funeral services will be restricted within the bubble, Roque said. A night watch will be followed, he said.
The order comes as the country posted its second-highest daily coronavirus score on Sunday, a day after hitting a record number of daily cases. Emergency workers, including those in the health and humanitarian sectors, and some government frontline workers, as well as people seeking medical treatment and going to the airport for overseas travel, have been released from the ban, Roque said.