MANILA - The Civil Service Commission (CSC) on Tuesday said government agencies in Luzon must start operating under a work from home scheme while the Philippines' most populated island remains under an enhanced community quarantine to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

All government workers, except for soldiers, police, health workers, and other frontline agencies, are expected to work from home from March 17 to April 13, 2020 "or until such time the Enhanced Community Quarantine over Luzon has been lifted," the CSC said in a statement.

"Work arrangement of government agencies in Luzon shall now be limited to work from home except those agencies required to provide skeletal force... as part of the implementation of the strict home quarantine policy," the CSC said in a statement.

"Report on the work from home arrangement adopted by government agencies shall be submitted to the Civil Service Commission Regional Offices for records purposes," it said.

President Rodrigo Duterte placed Luzon under a month-long enhanced community quarantine as the number of COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the country. His spokesperson Salvador Panelo earlier described the policy as a "total lockdown."

• Luzon under enhanced community quarantine as COVID-19 cases rise

The heightened isolation for Luzon was imposed a week after the Philippines declared a state of public health emergency due to the rapid spread of the virus, which originated from Wuhan, China.

As of March 16, 142 people in the Philippines have been infected by the disease. Twelve died, 3 recovered, while the rest are still battled the COVID-19 in hospitals.

The World Health Organization described COVID-19 as a global pandemic after it killed 5,000 people and infected 150,000 others worldwide.