Philippines President Duterte has decided to retain the 1 metre distancing requirement and a ban on eating and speaking in public transport. Health experts have warned that reducing gaps between passengers in trains, buses and jeepneys could result in a rise in infections in the Philippines, which has the highest number of confirmed cases in Southeast Asia. The Philippines has nearly 280,000 infections, more than a third of which have been reported in the past 30 days and 4,830 deaths, the second most in Southeast Asia, after Indonesia.