The Latest: Philippine capital going back under lockdown

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte is reimposing a moderate lockdown in the Philippine capital and outlying provinces after medical groups appealed for the move as coronavirus infections surge alarmingly.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Monday that metropolitan Manila, the capital region of more than 12 million people, and five densely populated provinces will revert to stricter quarantine restrictions for two weeks starting Tuesday. Mass public transport will be barred and only essential travel will be allowed.

Leaders of nearly 100 medical organizations held a rare online news conference Saturday and warned that the health system has been overwhelmed by infection spikes and may collapse as health workers fall ill or resign from exhaustion and fear.

They asked Duterte to reimpose a tight lockdown in the capital to allow health workers “a timeout” and allow the government to recalibrate its response to the pandemic.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines surged past 103,000 on Sunday and is second-most in Southeast Asia.

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HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:

— Parents struggle as schools reopen amid coronavirus surge

— COVID relief bill remains up in air as negotiations resume

— Debate begins for who’s first in line for COVID-19 vaccine

— Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

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NEW DELHI — Indian health authorities have given approval to the Serum Institute of India for conducting phase two and three trials of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by the University of Oxford.

The approval came late Sunday from the Drugs Controller General of India. At least 1,600 adults will participate in the trials.

Serum, the world’s largest maker of vaccines by volume, is mass-producing the vaccine candidate developed by the University of Oxford. It’s one of several candidates being developed.

Meanwhile, India’s coronavirus caseload Monday crossed 1.8 million with another spike of 52,972 new cases in the past 24 hours. The Health Ministry on Monday also reported 771 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking total fatalities up to 38,135.

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BEIJING — An outbreak in China’s far northwestern region of Xinjiang is continuing to subside, with 28 new cases reported Monday.

The outbreak of 590 cases so far has been concentrated in the capital, Urumqi, where authorities have conducted mass testing, cut public transport, isolated some communities and restricted travel.

Seven other new cases were imported and eight were in the northeastern province of Liaoning. No new deaths were reported, leaving China’s total at 4,634 among 84,428 reported cases of COVID-19.

Yet, while mainland China’s latest outbreak appears to have peaked, authorities in the semi-autonomous Chinese city of Hong Kong are struggling to contain infections, with more than 200 added over the weekend.

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PRISTINA, Kosovo – Kosovar Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti said he had the coronavirus and was isolating at home.

Hoti posted on Facebook he had no symptoms other than a light cough. He didn’t mention if any of his close staff had been infected or if they were self-quarantining.

Kosovo health authorities have reported significant increases in new virus cases and deaths in the last month, a trend which is continuing.

New lockdown measures like restrictions on public gatherings have been imposed, and authorities are trying to find more hospital beds.

They reported 8,799 cases and 249 deaths as of Sunday.