Workers wearing face masks scale bars at a construction site as the government implements stricter measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Manila, Philippines on Monday, March 22, 2021. The Department of Health reported over 8,000 new COVID-19 cases Monday, the highest number since the pandemic hit the country last year as it struggles to contain an alarming surge in coronavirus infections. (Photo by Aaron Favila/AP Photo)





A devotee wearing a face mask to prevent the spread of the coronavirus holds palm fronds as she attends a Palm Sunday mass outside the Saint Peter Parish Church in Quezon city, Philippines, Sunday, March 28, 2021. (Photo by Aaron Favila/AP Photo)





A worker from the Manila Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Office wearing a personal protective equipment disinfects a street in Manila, the Philippines on March 17, 2021. The renewed spike in COVID-19 cases in the country has prompted the Philippine government to impose strict quarantine measures again to prevent the further increase in coronavirus infections. (Photo by Chine Nouvelle/SIPA Press/Rex Features/Shutterstock)





Katrina Pelotin, a field nurse from the City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit, is seen wearing protective clothing as her team conducts contact tracing efforts at a slum area on April 15, 2021 in Quezon city, Metro Manila, Philippines. As the Philippines experiences its worst surge in COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic, many Covid-19 patients are being forced to suffer at home, missing out on vital care due to overwhelmed hospitals and raising the risk of infecting family members. The country is currently suffering the worst Covid-19 outbreak in Southeast Asia with more than 904,000 confirmed cases and with nearly one in four people being tested turning out positive. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)





A worker wearing a hazmat suit uses a fogging machine to disinfect a street as preventive measure against COVID-19 on March 26, 2021 in Manila, Philippines. Curfews and stricter lockdowns are being implemented in several areas across the Philippines as the country experiences its worst surge in cases since the lockdown began more than a year ago. The country has reported more than 693,000 cases of COVID-19 so far, with at least 13,095 deaths. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)





A social worker takes a picture of a resident receiving cash aid on April 7,2021 in Manila, Philippines. Each resident is entitled to 1,000 pesos ($20), with a limit of 4,000 pesos ($80) per household. Some 24 million people in Manila and nearby provinces remain under strict lockdown, the longest in the world, as the worst COVID-19 surge in Southeast Asia continues to hammer the country's healthcare system. The Philippines has confirmed more than 813,000 cases of COVID-19 so far, with nearly one in four people being tested turning out positive. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)





Manila city hall is seen beside an almost empty road as the government implements a strict lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus on Good Friday, April 2, 2021 in Manila, Philippines. Filipinos marked Jesus Christ's crucifixion Friday in one of the most solemn holidays in Asia's largest Catholic nation which combined with a weeklong coronavirus lockdown to empty Manila's streets of crowds and heavy traffic jams. Major highways and roads were eerily quiet on Good Friday and churches were deserted too after religious gatherings were prohibited in metropolitan Manila and four outlying provinces. (Photo by Aaron Favila/AP Photo)





A policeman patrols inside a village that was placed under lockdown as the government implements stricter measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Manila, Philippines on Monday, March 22, 2021. The Department of Health reported over 8,000 new COVID-19 cases Monday, the highest number since the pandemic hit the country last year as it struggles to contain an alarming surge in coronavirus infections. (Photo by Aaron Favila/AP Photo)





A Filipino Catholic performing self-flagellation lies on the ground with his bloodied back outside a church on Good Friday, defying a government ban on religious gatherings amid rising coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases, in Manila, Philippines, April 2, 2021. (Photo by Eloisa Lopez/Reuters)





Flavie Villanueva, a Catholic priest from the Society of the Divine Word, wearing a face mask amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, leans to kiss the feet of a homeless man after washing them on Maundy Thursday in Manila, Philippines, April 1, 2021. (Photo by Eloisa Lopez/Reuters)





Residents, whose jobs or livelihoods were affected by stricter restrictions imposed amid rising coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases, queue to receive cash assistance from the government, at an elementary school in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, April 12, 2021. (Photo by Eloisa Lopez/Reuters)





A Filipino Muslim man takes a nap after attending prayers on the first day of Ramadan at Golden Mosque in Quiapo, Manila, Philippines, April 13, 2021. (Photo by Eloisa Lopez/Reuters)





Filipino Muslims scramble to get free Iftar meals to break the fast on the first day of Ramadan outside the Golden Mosque in Quiapo, Manila, Philippines, April 13, 2021. (Photo by Eloisa Lopez/Reuters)





A health worker wears personal protective equipment (PPE) prior to conducting swab tests in a household where coronavirus disease (COVID-19) positive cases have been recorded, in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, April 20, 2021. (Photo by Lisa Marie David/Reuters)





A woman receives free food at a makeshift stall called “Community Pantry” beside a road in Quezon city, Philippines on Monday, April 19, 2021. Donated food and other essential items from residents or volunteers are placed on makeshift stalls for people who need it as many have lost jobs due to quarantine measures set by the government to curb the surge in COVID-19 cases in the country. The “Community Pantry” which started in Maginhawa street has spread to several areas around the metropolitan to support people struggling to make ends meet. (Photo by Aaron Favila/AP Photo)





Poeple wearing face masks and face shields to prevent the spread of the coronavirus buy food at the Munoz market in Quezon city, Philippines as they prepare for a stricter lockdown on Sunday March 28, 2021. The government will start stricter lockdown measures next week as the country struggles to control an alarming surge in COVID-19 cases. (Photo by Aaron Favila/AP Photo)





Filipino penitent Greg Meer reacts as he is nailed on a cross during a reenactment of Jesus Christ's crucifixion, in Santo Tomas, Batangas province, Philippines, March 30, 2021. (Photo by Lisa Marie David/Reuters)





A woman looks through a large hole on a concrete wall as she rests from searching for her belongings from charred home after a fire at a slum area in Rizal Province, the Philippines on March 26, 2021. The Philippine Bureau of Fire Protection said that the fire is believed to have started from one of the houses that was being used as a garment manufacturing area, leaving more than 170 families homeless in the fire. (Photo by Rouelle Umali/Xinhua News Agency/Imago)





Devotees offers prayers outside the Quiapo Church on Good Friday, April 2, 2021 as the government implements a strict lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Manila, Philippines. (Photo by Aaron Favila/AP Photo)





Philippine police (R) keep watch on a queue of citizens waiting to receive free food items from a community pantry on Maginhawa Street in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, 19 April 2021. A community pantry initiated in Maginhawa Street that spread on social media led to various pantries turning up in other parts of Metro Manila and provinces in the Philippines. The pantries operate on a “give what you can and take what you need” principle to encourage communities to help each other amid the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Rolex Dela Pena/EPA/EFE)