The Philippine government has banned unvaccinated residents of the capital Manila and surrounding districts from public transport amid a new surge of COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant.In an order published on Wednesday, the country’s transport secretary, Arthur Tugade, said the “no vaccination, no ride” policy covers all domestic public transport to, from and within Metro Manila.Operators of public transport, including land, air and sea, “shall allow access or issue tickets only to fu

These couple of weeks have not been the Philippines’ finest hours because of the surge in COVID-19 cases mostly in the National Capital Region Plus (NCR Plus) bubble. This is again another uphill battle the country is trying to overcome.

The Philippines on Friday lifted restrictions on national obsessions like karaoke and basketball in the capital Manila and reopened universities in the megacity of 13 million people as virus cases eased there.All restrictions on the movement of young people aged below 18 years were lifted in the capital, officials announced, and primary schools could reopen soon, pending the approval of President Rodrigo Duterte."This is good news and one that has been highly anticipated," Duterte&#

Exhausted nurses in the Philippines are struggling to care for patients as their colleagues contract COVID-19 or quit a profession that was dangerously understaffed even before the pandemic.The country is enduring a record rise in infections, fuelled by the Delta variant, with the health department reporting a nursing shortfall of more than 100,000 – forcing those left to work long hours for little pay on often precarious short-term contracts."They are tired and burned out," nursing

The Philippines will lift a stay-at-home order in the capital Manila this week as it trials "granular lockdowns", an official said Monday, in a bid to rein in coronavirus cases and revive the economy.More than 13 million people in the national capital region – the country's economic heartland – have been in lockdown since 6 August amid record infections fuelled by the hyper-contagious Delta variant.The move to ease restrictions from Wednesday comes after nationwide daily cases

A Bangladeshi scientist who helped develop a cheap oral vaccine against cholera, a Pakistani microfinance pioneer and a Filipino fisherman were among Tuesday's winners of Asia's equivalent to the Nobel Prize.Firdausi Qadri, 70, was one of five recipients of the Ramon Magsaysay Award – named after a Filipino president killed in a plane crash – for her "life-long devotion to the scientific profession" and "untiring contributions to vaccine development".Working at t

The Philippines’s already stretched healthcare system is under more strain as the country reports its second-largest daily increase in COVID-19 infections since the pandemic, providing more evidence of how the virulent Delta variant may be spreading.Hundreds of hospitals in the country were again nearing full capacity as of Saturday, with some facilities reporting they had run out of intensive care unit beds for COVID-19 patients, leaving healthcare workers, who are forced to work longer hour

The Philippine capital Manila returned to lockdown Friday as authorities sought to slow the spread of the hyper-contagious Delta variant and ease pressure on hospitals while trying to avoid crushing economic activity.Police checkpoints across the National Capital Region (NCR), where more than 13 million people live, caused long queues as officers in camouflage uniforms inspected vehicles to ensure only essential workers were on the road.Experts warned that an explosion in Delta cases could ov

The Philippines will send more than 13 million people in the national capital region back into lockdown next week, the government said Friday, as it tries to head off a surge in cases of a hyper-contagious coronavirus strain.Experts have warned of an explosion in infections fuelled by the Delta variant that could overwhelm hospitals in the coming weeks if restrictions are not drastically tightened in the crowded capital."We had to make this difficult decision in order to save more lives,

For Gio Pineda, a young doctor in the Philippines capital of Manila, the past few days have been among the most harrowing of his life.