Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte relaxs virus lockdown in Manila

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced late Thursday a further easing of the country's coronavirus restrictions, reducing quarantine measures in the capital Manila after more than two months of lockdown.

More work and business operations, along with public transport, will be allowed to resume under the new arrangement, but social distancing, face masks and other safeguards will continue to be required. Classes will remain suspended.

Duterte made the televised announcement hours after the Department of Health reported a single-day spike of 539 infections, more than 60% of them in the congested capital.

That brought the total number of infections to 15,588, including 921 deaths.

Duterte warned the crisis was far from over. "Remember that the entire nation is still under quarantine," Duterte said. "The state has every right to control your movement if you pass on a contagion to the population."