The COVID-19 pandemic in Metro Manila was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus reached Metro Manila on January 30, 2020, when the first case of COVID-19 in the Philippines was confirmed in Manila. Metro Manila is the worst affected region in the Philippines, where most cases in the country are recorded. A state of calamity and community quarantine was declared in the region on March 15.
After a month of no new cases in the country, the first case of someone without travel history abroad was confirmed on March 5, a 62-year-old male who frequented a Muslim prayer hall in San Juan City, raising suspicions that a community transmission of COVID-19 is already underway in the Philippines. The man's wife was confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 on March 7, which was also the first local transmission to be confirmed.
By March 2022, much of the pandemic restrictions were lifted.
As of May 16, 2023, there have been 1,328,515 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila, with 13,829 deaths.
Background
+Cumulative COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila Deaths Caloocan 90,267 1,513 88,746 8 Las Piñas 58,329 555 57,680 94 Makati 96,078 737 95,205 136 Malabon 31,538 487 31,017 34 Mandaluyong 54,260 559 53,605 96 Manila 166,219 1,934 164,091 194 Marikina 44,551 710 43,772 69 Muntinlupa 47,820 286 47,474 60 Navotas 23,336 399 22,910 27 Parañaque 81,268 449 80,704 115 Pasay 58,817 422 58,307 88 Pasig 96,287 1,138 94,978 171 Pateros 10,843 95 10,738 10 Quezon City 276,882 2,685 273,813 384 San Juan 24,149 353 23,758 38 Taguig 94,669 589 94,072 8 Valenzuela 53,629 823 52,745 61 Total 1,317,485 13,829 1,301,851 1,805
The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the Philippines was recorded in Metro Manila on January 30, 2020. It involved a 38-year-old Chinese woman from Wuhan, the origin of the disease, who arrived in Manila after travelling to Cebu City and Dumaguete in central Philippines from Hong Kong. Three days later, the Philippine Department of Health (DOH) confirmed that a second Chinese national tested positive for COVID-19, identified as the 44-year-old male companion of the first confirmed patient. Both patients received treatment at Manila's San Lazaro Hospital with the latter being reported to have died from the disease on February 2, becoming the first known fatality outside China. On March 6, the DOH reported the first case of local community transmission of the deadly virus, a 62-year-old Filipino man from suburban Cainta, Rizal, just east of Metro Manila, with no prior travel history to affected countries. He and his 59-year-old Filipino wife were initially admitted to the Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan where they were diagnosed with the virus before being transferred to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa where they both died on March 11.
On March 12, 2020, following the declaration of a public health emergency, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte placed the entire capital region under community quarantine for 30 days starting March 15, 2020. Most areas in Metro Manila have also issued curfews to help limit the spread of the virus. On March 16, an enhanced community quarantine order was issued by the president covering Metro Manila and the entire island of Luzon.
On April 7, DOH secretary Francisco Duque reported that Metro Manila's COVID-19 cases continued to rise as 80 percent of the country's 3,764 confirmed cases were from the region. Duque also identified the cities with the most number of cases by the third week of the mass quarantine: Quezon City with 583, Manila with 221, Makati with 160, Parañaque with 155, and San Juan with 134 confirmed cases. The cities with the most reported deaths so far were identified as Quezon City with 34, Manila with 30, San Juan with 24, Pasig with 15, and Caloocan and Parañaque with 14 fatalities each. On the same day, President Duterte announced that the Luzon-wide quarantine measures have been extended to April 30. It was further extended up to May 15. A modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) was then applied to NCR, Laguna, and Cebu City afterwards, while GCQ was raised to 41 provinces and 10 cities with moderate risk.
Timeline
2020 January–February 2020 – first cases
The first suspected case of COVID-19 in the Philippines was reported in January 2020. The case was that of a 5-year-old boy in Cebu, who arrived in the country on January 12 with his mother. At that time, the Philippines has no capability to conduct tests to confirm suspected COVID-19 cases. The boy tested positive for "non-specific pancoronavirus assay" by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Muntinlupa, and samples from the boy were sent to the Victorian Infectious Disease Reference Laboratory in Melbourne, Australia, for confirmatory testing to determine the specific coronavirus strain. The boy tested negative for COVID-19 but several suspected cases were reported in various parts of the country.
The RITM developed capability to conduct confirmatory tests for COVID-19 in response to the emergence of suspected COVID-19 cases. It started conducting confirmatory tests on January 30. On the same day, the Philippines confirms its first case of COVID-19 in Metro Manila and the entire country, a 38-year-old Chinese woman from Wuhan, who had arrived in Manila from Hong Kong on January 21. She was hospitalized at San Lazaro Hospital in Manila. She sought a consultation due to a mild cough, and was already asymptomatic at the time of the announcement. The second case was confirmed on February 2, a 44-year-old Chinese man who was the companion of the first case. His death on February 1 was the first recorded outside China. He had a coinfection of influenza and Streptococcus pneumoniae.
March 2020 – early spread
On March 6, the first case of community transmission is reported by the DOH, a 62-year-old Filipino man from nearby Cainta, Rizal, with no known history of travel abroad and who regularly visited a Muslim prayer hall in Greenhills, San Juan. The next day, on March 7, Taguig records its first COVID-19 case, a lawyer who works at Bonifacio Global City and has a history abroad of travelling to Japan. On March 9, Marikina Pasig, and Quezon City each record its first COVID-19 case. The cities of San Juan, Marikina, and Pasay suspended classes for all levels amid the announcement of the first case of community transmission in the metropolis. The next day, on March 10, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the closure of all schools, colleges, and universities in Metro Manila from March 10 to 14. The Metro Manila Council, consisting of the Metro Manila mayors and headed by chairman Danilo Lim, convene to discuss measures to prevent the spread of the virus as confirmed cases in the region climbed to 33.
On March 11, Caloocan records its first COVID-19 case. The same day, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno goes into self-quarantine and isolates himself in the Manila City Hall after arriving from an official trip to London. The following day, on March 12, Las Piñas records its first COVID-19 case.
Suspecting that community transmission is underway, President Duterte announces a partial lockdown on Metro Manila, placing the entire Metro Manila under community quarantine for thirty days beginning on March 15. The suspension of classes in all levels in Metro Manila is extended to April 12. Incidents of panic buying are reported across the region, triggered by the president's partial lockdown order. The local chief executives of Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, and Valenzuela: Oscar Malapitan, Antolin Oreta, Toby Tiangco, and Rex Gatchalian, respectively, go into self-quarantine after learning they had come into contact with a confirmed coronavirus patient at the inauguration of the North Luzon Expressway–Harbor Link in Caloocan.
A total of 56 checkpoints are set up in numerous points of entry to Metro Manila on the first day of the partial lockdown. Following a directive from the Metro Manila Council and the confirmation of COVID-19 cases, the city mayors of Makati, Manila, Pasig, and San Juan declare a state of calamity.
On March 14, Mandaluyong records its first three COVID-19 cases. It was followed by Muntinlupa on March 15, Valenzuela on March 19, Malabon on March 23, and Navotas on March 28.
On March 16, President Duterte imposes an enhanced community quarantine covering the entire Luzon, including Metro Manila, suspending mass public transportation; restricting land, air, and sea travel; imposing strict home quarantine; and closing most private establishments until April 13. Ninoy Aquino International Airport, except Terminal 1, closes following the suspension of domestic and international flights resulting from travel restriction impositions. The Manila bourse becomes the first major market in the world to shut down over coronavirus fears. It suspends trading for two days following a global stock market crash which saw the main Philippine Stock Exchange index plunge more than 30 percent. Several private hospitals in Metro Manila report operating at full-capacity due to the pandemic and urged patients to look for alternative hospitals. By March 31, the Philippine National Police reports that 10,850 curfew violators have been apprehended across the region since the start of the enhanced community quarantines.
April 2020 – quarantine extensions On April 1, the City of Manila reports its largest single-day increase in coronavirus infections so far with 41 new cases, bringing the city's total to 116. In the same day, more than 800 Filipino repatriates from four virus-stricken cruise ships in the U.S. arrive at Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) announced on April 2 that Metro Manila remains the worst hit by the coronavirus crisis in the country after 1,511 cases were confirmed in the region, or more than 50 percent of the total confirmed cases in the Philippines by that time. COVID-19 inter-agency taskforce spokesman Karlo Nograles announces the mandatory wearing of face masks in public for residents in all regions under enhanced community quarantine in Luzon. The Department of Health launches a 24/7 coronavirus hotline for Metro Manila residents. On April 6, a ten-man medical team from China arrive in Manila to share their experience in prevention and control of the coronavirus disease, while the Metro Manila Development Authority installed decontamination tents in all public hospitals and government offices across the region. On April 3, the National Capital Region Police Office confirm its first COVID-19 casualty among its ranks.
On April 7, President Duterte approves an extension of the enhanced community quarantine in the region until April 30. The Rizal Memorial Stadium in Malate was converted by the national government as a 116-bed COVID-19 emergency healthcare facility, with 108 more beds delivered by April 17. The World Health Organization Western Pacific Regional Office in Manila express its approval of the quarantine measures as it claims it was able to prevent a large-scale community outbreak of the virus in the region.
On April 11, the first localized target mass testing began in Valenzuela City. It was followed by City of Manila, Quezon City and Muntinlupa on April 14. They were followed elsewhere in Metro Manila, including Parañaque (April 20), Mandaluyong & Taguig (April 22), and Makati (April 30).
May–July 2020 – easing lockdowns