(Eagle News) — The Parañaque City government has extended its curfew hours after three South African variant cases were detected there.
Mayor Edwin Olivarez said in a radio interview that the curfew was now from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.
Previous curfew hours were from 12 midnight to 4 a.m.
The local government said the three South African variant cases were returning overseas Filipino workers–two seafarers and one from Dubai, the United Arab Emirates–who are residents of Barangay Baclaran, Barangay Sun Valley and Barangay Don Bosco.
The South African virus variant is said to be more transmissible.
Earlier, the local government said it created a composite task force that would monitor health protocol violations due to the surge in COVID-19 cases in the city.
From the reported 358 cases on March 7, the number increased to 396 on March 8, the local government said.
This represents an increase of 38 cases in a single day.
Earlier, the Manila and Quezon City governments announced localized lockdowns in their respective cities following an increase in COVID-19 cases in those areas.
The OCTA research group had warned about the uptick in COVID-19 cases, reportedly possibly due to the COVID-19 virus variants detected in the country.
It said COVID-19 cases could reach 5,000 daily by March 31.
