Manila, Aug 18 (IANS): Restrictions to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus in Manila and the four provinces surrounding the Philippines' capital city will be lessened to allow the economy to open up.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday night placed Metro Manila and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal under a more relaxed general community quarantine (GCQ) which will come into effect from Tuesday until August 31, reports Xinhua news agency.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the rest of the country was already placed under an even more relaxed modified GCQ.

"We need to open the economy while refreshing the government's responses to the coronavirus disease," Roque said.

On August 4, Duterte placed Metro Manila and the four provinces under stricter quarantine measures anew for two weeks until August 18 due to the spike in the number of confirmed cases in these areas.

The Philippines now has 164,474 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 2,681 deaths and 112,759 recoveries.