Commuters, you’re now ordered to keep quiet while on board the trains of Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3), as per the new advisory that the Department of Transportation issued on July 13.
In order to avoid the transmission of COVID-19 to commuters, MRT-3 now prohibits passengers from answering phone calls and talking while in transit.
“Maaari maging sanhi ng pagkahawa sa virus ang respiratory droplets na nanggagaling sa pagsasalita, pag-ubo at pagbahing kaya’t pinapaalalahanan din ang mga pasahero na panatilihing nakasuot ang face mask,” stated DOTr.
TINGNAN:
Ito ang mga karagdagang paalala para sa mga pasahero na sasakay sa MRT-3:
Upang maiwasan ang posibleng pagkalat at pagkahawa ng virus sa mga commuters, ipinagbabawal na ang pagsagot ng tawag sa cellphone ng mga pasahero at pagsasalita sa loob ng tren. pic.twitter.com/eYMnMCo7pp
— DOTr MRT-3 (@dotrmrt3) July 13, 2020
In addition to this measure, MRT-3 will also implement contact tracing by requiring passengers to fill up health declaration forms. These will be handed out while passengers are lining up and before entering the turnstile area in train stations.
MRT-3 previously suspended operations on July 7 due to the rising number of employees who tested positive for COVID-19. Its operations resumed on July 13, but only in a limited capacity, as 1,093 depot personnel and 1,010 station personnel tested negative as of July 11 for COVID-19. This count “exceeded the 1,308 number of personnel required to resume train operations on a limited number of train sets.”
Meanwhile, its infected employees have been isolated in government quarantine facilities in the World Trade Center, Philippine Arena and PhilSports Arena.
“To recall, a total of 281 personnel have contracted COVID-19. Infected were MRT-3 depot and station personnel and employees of maintenance provider Sumitomo-MHI-TESP and its subcontractors, and other MRT-3 service providers,” wrote DOTr. Included in the infected service providers were some ticket sellers as well.
As an alternative, DOTr utilized its bus augmentation program to ferry passengers during the suspension of MRT-3’s operations.
Header photo by Niño Jesus Orbeta for Inquirer.net
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Writer: YANN MAGCAMIT
