UPDATE 3-Philippine capital plans curfew as coronavirus deaths, infection tally spike

* Philippines posts largest single-day hike in confirmed
cases
* Health ministry confirms three coronavirus deaths on
Saturday
* Nighttime curfew, business closures in March to April
* Capital's movement measures among the tightest in Asia

(Recasts lead, add details on new infections)
By Neil Jerome Morales
MANILA, March 14 (Reuters) - Manila announced nighttime
curfews on Saturday and urged shopping malls to close for one
month, in a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus, as the
Philippines reported its eighth death and the largest single-day
increase in confirmed cases.
The Philippines' health department on Saturday confirmed
three new fatalities, including a patient in southern
Philippines, bringing the total number of deaths to eight. It
also reported 34 new confirmed cases, bringing the total to 98.
Details of the new cases are being validated and authorities
are verifying reports of more infections, Health Assistant
Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told a news conference.
President Rodrigo Duterte has raised the country's health
emergency status to the highest level and issued quarantine
measures in the capital, home to at least 12 million people.
He also issued land and air travel restrictions to and from
the capital on Thursday that will take effect on March 15, and
extended school closures to April 12.
The measures in the Philippine capital, if implemented
fully, would be among the strictest in Asia, and come as
European countries and the United States battle to contain a
pandemic that has killed more than 5,000 worldwide.
"To limit the spread of the virus, we need to limit the
movement of people. We are slowing down the movement of people
in Metro Manila," Jose Arturo Garcia, general manager of the
Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, told a news
conference.
Some of the capital's residents flocked to bus stations and
airports ahead of the travel ban that will start Sunday.
The nighttime curfew will take effect on March 15 to April
14, but some employees will be exempt, Garcia said. He said
people who violated the curfew would be turned back, but would
not be reprimanded or arrested.
Mayors will issue local ordinances for the temporary closure
of malls and establishments, exempting shops offering essential
services like groceries, banks and pharmacies. The capital is
home to sprawling shopping malls, some of which are among the
largest in the world.