The Philippines will reimpose a stricter coronavirus lockdown in and around the capital for two weeks from Tuesday, authorities said on Sunday, as the country struggles to contain infections that have jumped to more than 100,000 cases. President Rodrigo Duterte has approved placing Metro Manila and nearby provinces such as Laguna, Cavite, Rizal and Bulacan under so-called “Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine” (MECQ) until August 18, his spokesman Harry Roque told reporters. Some businesses and public transport are expected to be closed in the capital, which is currently under the less restrictive General Community Quarantine classification. Work and quarantine passes will also be required, as authorities seek to restrict movements. Duterte’s move came after 80 local groups representing 80,000 doctors and a million nurses called for tighter controls, saying the country was losing the fight against the coronavirus. “Our health care workers are burnt out with the seemingly endless number of patients trooping to our hospitals,” the medical groups said in a letter to Duterte that they read at the news conference. “I have heard you. Don’t lose hope. We are aware that you are tired,” Duterte said late on Sunday, addressing the medical frontliners during a televised speech after meeting cabinet members and his coronavirus task force. The Philippines recorded 5,032 additional infections on Sunday, the country’s largest single-day increase, taking its confirmed coronavirus cases to 103,185. The death toll jumped by 20 to 2,059. Duterte asks Filipinos to ‘endure’ coronavirus curbs, pins hopes on China vaccine This is the second highest number of Covid-19 infections and deaths in Southeast Asia, behind Indonesia . Duterte also approved the hiring of 10,000 medical professionals to strengthen the current workforce and additional benefits for health care workers treating Covid-19 patients, Roque said. In mid-March, Duterte imposed one of the world’s longest and strictest lockdowns in the capital and other provinces to curb the coronavirus spread. He began easing restrictions in June in an effort to revive the domestic economy, which is now facing its biggest contraction in more than three decades. Critics have accused Duterte and his top officials of failing to immediately launch massive virus tests to be able to identify and contain hotspots early on, especially when they placed the capital under lockdown in mid-March. The poverty-stricken country has struggled with polio, measles and cholera outbreaks for years and officials have been aware of inadequate health resources long before the pandemic hit, the critics said. Duterte has also acknowledged that corruption by local officials tainted a massive cash aid programme for about 23 million poor families that has been widely criticised for delays and chaotic enforcement. A leading source of global labour, the Philippines, like Indonesia, has additionally been battered after hundreds of thousands of Filipinos, including cruise ship crews, lost their jobs worldwide due to the pandemic then scrambled to head home. The government has helped bring home more than 115,000 Filipinos from across the world since February and another 100,000 need to be repatriated in the next two months in the largest such pandemic-sparked homecoming in Philippine history, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs. Additional reporting by Associated Press