Coronavirus: Philippines imposes home quarantine on entire Luzon island, affecting more than 50 million people

The measures, if implemented fully, would be among the strictest in place in Asia, as the country grapples to contain an outbreak with 140 confirmed cases

‘This is not martial law. Don’t get scared because nobody will display their guns,’ President Rodrigo Duterte says

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A soldier checks the temperature of a motorist at a checkpoint before entering Manila. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:13pm, 16 Mar 2020Updated: 12:27am, 19 Mar 2020

The Philippines imposed strict home quarantine measures and a halt on work and transport across its main island of Luzon on Monday, putting half the country’s population on lockdown in an aggressive bid to quell rising cases of coronavirus.

The government would with immediate effect compel people to remain in their homes and reliant on deliveries of food and medical supplies, while transport and work would be suspended except for essential services, Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said.

“The president’s ultimate goal is to save ourselves from ourselves,” Panelo said in a television interview.

The measures, if implemented fully, would be among the strictest in place in Asia, as the country grapples to contain an outbreak that has seen confirmed cases rise to 140 – from only three cases 10 days ago – with 12 deaths.

“We are the soldiers but we are also the enemy,” Panelo said in another interview. “We are enemies with ourselves. We are the carriers of the virus.”

Later, President Rodrigo Duterte sought to reassure citizens.

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