By Raymond Carl Dela Cruz | Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) will begin offering free antigen tests to consenting random and volunteering passengers on Jan. 11 as part of its efforts to combat the spread of COVID-19.
In a Facebook post on Monday (Jan. 10), the MRT-3 said the free testing will occur from Tuesday until January 11, from January 17 to 21, from January 24 to 28, and on January 31.
“Maglalagay ng antigen testing sites ang MRT-3 sa mga istasyon ng North Avenue, Cubao, Shaw Boulevard, at Taft Avenue (The MRT-3 will install antigen testing sites at the North Avenue, Cubao, Shaw Boulevard, and Taft Avenue stations),” the MRT-3 post read.
Each station, it said, can accommodate 12 passengers per peak period or 24 passengers per day.
“Isasagawa ang random antigen testing sa consenting and volunteering passengers tuwing peak hours mula 7:00 a.m. hanggang 9:00 a.m., at mula 5:00 p.m. hanggang 7:00 p.m. (The random antigen testing to consenting and volunteering passengers will occur during peak hours from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.),” it added.
The antigen testing, it said, will be performed by medical personnel from the South Superhighway Medical Center.
Those who will participate will be asked to fill up a consent and contact tracing form before administering free antigen test.
“Libreng makasasakay ng MRT-3 ang pasaherong papayag sa random antigen testing at magne-negatibo ang resulta sa test (A free ride aboard the MRT-3 will be awarded to passengers who consent to the random antigen test and receive a negative test result),” the MRT-3 said.
Those who test positive, it said, will be barred from boarding an MRT-3 train and will be asked to immediately self-isolate, to contact their local government unit (LGU) representative for health monitoring and confirmatory reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing. (PNA) -ag