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Man dies after bizarre punishment for breaking Covid rules

A man who broke Covid curfew laws to buy drinking water has died after police allegedly subjected him to a bizarre exercise routine which caused his body to 'shut down'.

Darren Manaog Penaredondo, from Cavite province in the Philippines, was forced to do 100 squats after police busted him flouting lockdown rules on April 1, CNN Philippines reported.

The 28-year-old was taken with other quarantine violators and ordered to do 100 'pump squats' - a cross between a squat and a push-up.

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Darren Manaog Penaredondo was captured on video struggling to stand up on the day before his death. His wife, who filmed the clip, was unaware of the seriousness of his condition at the time. Source: Newsflare

The entire group was made to do the exercise in sync, and noone was allowed to leave until 100 repetitions had been completed, Newsflare reported. If they weren't done correctly, the whole group would start again from the beginning.

In total, Mr Penaredondo was forced to do about 300 repetitions and didn't make it home until the morning of April 2.

Mr Penaredondo's family said he collapsed later that day, then on April 3 he went into a coma before passing away at around 10pm that night.

"He started to convulse on Saturday, but we were able to revive him at home. Then his body failed so we revived him again, but he was already comatose," his family said, according to CNN Philippines.

The country's lockdown was due to end on April 4 but was extended by another week on Monday after an alarming spike in coronavirus infections continued to surge and started to overwhelm many hospitals in the capital and outlying regions.

President Rodrigo Duterte placed Metropolitan Manila and four outlying provinces, a region of more than 25 million people, under lockdown last week as daily infections breached 10,000.

Darren Penaredondo pictured with his wife, Reichelyn.
Mr Penaredondo pictured with his wife, Reichelyn. Source: Newsflare

Easter events were shifted to online after all public gatherings, including in places of worship, were temporarily banned.

The Philippines has reported more than 795,000 COVID-19 cases with 13,425 deaths, the highest totals in Southeast Asia after Indonesia.

- with AP

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