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UPDATE 2-Duterte puts Philippines under quarantine, says "we are in the fight of our lives"

Published 03/16/2020, 10:35 PM
UPDATE 2-Duterte puts Philippines under quarantine, says "we are in the fight of our lives"

* Home quarantine on main island of Luzon for 1 month
* Duterte orders businesses to close to stop spread
* Says police, soldiers will arrest violators
* 72-hour window to leave country

(Recasts after Duterte address, adds quotes, details)
By Martin Petty and Neil Jerome Morales
MANILA, March 16 (Reuters) - The Philippines announced
strict home quarantine measures on Monday for half of its
population, shut down transport networks and ordered businesses
to close or operate remotely in a bid to quell rising
coronavirus cases.
In a televised announcement, President Rodrigo Duterte said
existing travel restrictions and containment measures were not
enough to arrest the spread so it was time to lock down the
country's main island to minimise social contact and allow
health workers to move quickly to control the contagion.
Duterte told mayors to act decisively to enforce quarantines
and said violators of the lockdown would be arrested by police
and the military and faced jail.
"Make no mistake, we are in the fight of our lives," Duterte
said.
"We are at war against a vicious and invisible enemy. One
that cannot be seen by the naked eye. In this extraordinary war,
we are all soldiers."
The measures, if implemented fully, would be among the
strictest in place in Asia, as the country of 107 million people
tries to contain an outbreak that has seen confirmed cases rise
sharply to 142 - from only three cases 10 days ago - with 12
deaths.
The health minister said nearly 1,000 tests had been
undertaken so far. The Philippines until March 7 had been six
weeks without a confirmed case.
The home quarantine is an expansion of a lockdown of
Metropolitan Manila that started last week and prescribed
stringent immigration curbs, curfews, bans on public gatherings,
social distancing, the shutting of malls and a halt to
non-essential movements in and out of the city.
"I cannot go into a guessing game. I have to act. If there
is already contagion and cases that need to be attended to, then
the government can move faster," Duterte said.
"We are put on notice that it is really dangerous."
The government announced on Monday a 27.1 billion pesos
($524.8 million) package help fight coronavirus and provide help
to those hit by economic losses.
The central bank on Monday said it might consider a 50 basis
points policy rate PHCBIR=ECI cut at its meeting on Thursday
to counter the economic impact. Duterte said he had been assured there were sufficient food
supplies and said private operators providing necessities, like
supermarkets, pharmacies, health clinics, banks and utilities
would stay open.
Anyone wishing to leave the country had 72 hours to do so,
according to an official memo. Business process outsourcing
firms and export businesses could continue to operate, under
certain conditions.
Businesses would have to take a hit, Duterte said, and he
urged the country's oligarchs to cooperate and ensure their
workers were taken care of financially.
"You have to close down your business and that is an order
because you will help in propagating the disease instead of
helping," he said.
($1 = 51.64 pesos)

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