Vehicles were stuck in long queues leading to entry checkpoints in Manila as a month-long coronavirus lockdown of the Philippine capital began on March 15, 2020. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the sweeping lockdown of the National Capital Region (NRC) on March 12 in an effort to contain the spread of the deadly virus that causes Covid-19. As of March 17, 2020, the disease had infected at least 140 people and claimed 12 lives in the Southeast Asian country.