Construction workers turn containers into makeshift hospitals for COVID-19 patients in Manila, Philippines on Wednesday. The country has reported 8,212 infections and 558 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Photo: Xinhua

 The Philippines' capital city of Manila, along with other two "high-risk" areas in the country, will remain under "modified enhanced community quarantine" until May 31 in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19, the country's Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said on Tuesday.

After meeting with the coronavirus task force late on Monday night, Roque said Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has decided to keep the capital region, Laguna province, south of Manila, and Cebu City in the central Philippines in lockdown due to the continuing surge in COVID-19 cases.

Under "modified enhanced community quarantine," Roque said there will be limited movement of people, allowing the only movement of essential services and work.

"We will gradually open the economy by allowing selected manufacturing and processing plants to operate up to a maximum of 50 percent," Roque said in a virtual media briefing, adding that "classes in all levels will remain closed."

The majority of the COVID-19 cases were recorded in Metro Manila, home to nearly 13 million people. According to the Department of Health (DOH), Metro Manila has a total of 6,993 or 65 percent of the confirmed cases in the Philippines which has now reached 11,086.

Duterte put Metro Manila under lockdown in mid-March. The schedule for lifting the quarantine rules was initially mid-April, but this was twice extended until May 15 due to the steady rise of COVID-19 cases.