Following the shutdown of operations in MRT-3 due to a spike in COVID-19 cases among its personnel, an employee of the Philippine National Railways (PNR) also tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday.
The PNR said the overseer employee seldom goes to the Tutuban Station and did not have close contact with any of its passengers. Five PNR employees are undergoing quarantine after the contact tracing.
The PNR has conducted mass rapid testing among all its employees for three times now aside from undergoing daily symptom check.
In LRT-2, two employees also turned out positive in the COVID-19 diagnostics last week. “Kaunting sakit lang, ubo, sipon, kaunting nararamdaman na mali, talagang hindi na namin pinapapasok tapos nagse-self-quarantine na sila. So itong dalawa na galing doon, naka-isolate na sila, hindi na nila na-expose ‘yung mga kasamahan namin sa opisina (If they feel a bit unwell, cough, colds, when they feel something is wrong, we do not ask them to report physically and they get into self-quarantine. The two have been isolated and have not exposed others in the office),” LRTA Spokesperson Atty. Hernando Cabrera shared.
To prevent COVID-19 transmission, one-time use tickets are being quarantined for about 72 hours before they are placed back in machines. Disinfection is also conducted regularly.
The latest data of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) show 203 MRT-3 personnel are infected by the virus, 183 are depot personnel, 15 are from the stations, and five others including train drivers. The DOTr has advised previous MRT passengers to go to the nearest hospitals, city health offices, or testing centers if symptoms persist.
To help commuters, buses plying the North Ave. to Taft Ave route will extend their daily operations to 10:00 p.m. from the previous 8:00 p.m.
– Report from Karen Villanda
