MANILA, Jan 4, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - The Philippines will expand coronavirus
restrictions in Manila from Wednesday to include more than 11 million people
living near the capital as cases surge, the government said.

   Daily infections have spiked to a two-month high in January and the health
department warned of higher caseloads in the coming days following the
detection of local cases of the highly contagious Omicron variant.

   The provinces of Bulacan, Cavite and Rizal surrounding Manila have been
placed under the third highest alert "due to a sharp increase of Covid-19
cases", presidential spokesman Karlo Nograles said in a statement Tuesday.

   Under the tighter restrictions, which will be in place until mid-January,
unvaccinated residents have to stay at home unless buying essentials or
exercising.

   Restaurants, parks, churches and beauty salons will operate at lower
capacity while in-person classes and contact sports are suspended.

   The order comes a day after Manila went to Alert Level 3.

   Around 70 percent of residents in Metro Manila are fully jabbed but less
than half the national population is fully vaccinated, according to
government data.

   "We did initial estimates. The assumptions would be ... Omicron is eight
times more transmissible than Delta, and that the peak will happen at the end
of January," health undersecretary Rosario Vergeire told CNN Philippines.

   "It will be more than the numbers we saw during the Delta peak," she
added.

   The health department has deemed the entire country of 109 million at
"high risk" following a spike in cases in recent days, Vergeire said, even as
hospitalisations remain under control.

   Before the tighter quarantine rules, the Philippines had been under its
second-lowest alert level since December 3 as cases fell, which allowed
restaurants and indoor venues to ramp up capacity and in-person classes to
resume on a limited basis.

   The Philippines has recorded over 2.8 million infections and more than
51,000 deaths.