MANILA— President Rodrigo Duterte's stay-at-home order for people who have yet to get vaccinated against COVID-19 applies to all areas of the country regardless of coronavirus alert level, Malacañang said on Friday.

Duterte on Thursday ordered barangay officials to "restrain" and "arrest" unvaccinated people who refuse to "stay put" as the Philippines battles another uptick in COVID-19 cases.

“Sa declaration, pronouncements, at direktiba ni Pangulo, it appears na ano ‘yan, regardless [of alert level] at nationwide po ‘yan,” said Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles.

(Based on the declaration, pronouncements, and directives of the President, it appears to apply nationwide, regardless of alert level.)

“For the public’s safety, health, and well-being, iyong mga barangay kapitan, saan man naroroon, mayroon pong direktiba si Pangulo na makiusap sa ating mga residente sa barangay na kapag unvaccinated, hindi pa kumpleto ang vaccination ay huwag muna lumabas para mapigilan ang pagkalat ng virus na ito, maprotektahan natin sila,” he said in a press briefing.

(The barangay captains, wherever they are, the President has a directive for them to appeal to residents who are unvaccinated or have yet to complete their vaccination to refrain from going out to prevent the spread of this virus and so that they will be protected.)

“Nationwide po ‘yan,” added Nograles, acting spokesman for Malacañang.

(That's nationwide.)

He said Metro Manila and some other areas have come up with resolutions restricting the movement of unvaccinated residents.

“Sana nga po iyong ibang mga regions ay ganoon din po ang mangyari. Pero ito na nga rin po iyong trend, darating po na iyong lahat ng mga LGUs ay may kaniya-kaniyang ordinansa na,”

“Susundan natin kung ano iyong ordinansa pagdating sa pagpataw ng fines at kung may imprisonment pa na kasama dito sa ordinance,”

“Sana nga po iyong ibang mga regions ay ganoon din po ang mangyari. Pero ito na nga rin po iyong trend, darating po na iyong lahat ng mga LGUs ay may kaniya-kaniyang ordinansa na,” he said.

(We hope this is what will happen in other regions. But this is becoming the trend, there will be a point where all LGUs would have their own ordinance.)

“Susundan natin kung ano iyong ordinansa pagdating sa pagpataw ng fines at kung may imprisonment pa na kasama,” added the official.

(We will follow the ordinance when it comes to imposing fines and if it will include imprisonment.)

The health department on Thursday reported 17,220 new coronavirus infections and the country's highest ever COVID-19 positivity rate at 36.9 percent.

It announced earlier in the day the detection of 29 additional cases of the highly transmissible omicron variant, raising the country's total to 43.

The Philippines has fully vaccinated at least 51.6 million of its 109 million population.