The Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) has started the deployment of fewer trains as the number of personnel tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) further increased to 186, a transport official said on Monday.
Department of Transportation (DOTr) Undersecretary for Rails Timothy John Batan said in an interview that as of 6 p.m., Sunday, there are already 186 MRT-3 staff afflicted with COVID-19.
According to Batan, the infected personnel include the 169 staff from its depot, 12 station personnel, three train drivers, and two from the operations control center.
Batan also mentioned that of the total numbers of employees who tested positive for COVID-19, only two have developed symptoms while the rest are asymptomatic.
“Nung mababa pa ang bilang ng kaso, nagbigay na ng directive ang IATF na mag-sagawa ng swab testing. Isingawa natin ito sa lahat ng empleyado, kasama ang mga empleyado mula sa service provider at ‘yan ang dahilan kung bakit nakikita natin agad kung sino ang mga nag-positive,” he added.
The DOTr official also said that based on their contact tracing, the latest infected personnel had no contact with the depot workers who were among the first to test positive for the disease last month.
“So far, base sa ating contact tracing walang contact ang mga infected station personnel sa ating mga depot personnel. Kaya maaaring ‘yung infection ay nakuha mula sa labas ng MRT-3,” Batan said.
Due to this increase, Batan said the MRT-3 management decided to reduce the line’s operations beginning Monday to only 11 train sets from the 16 to 19 trains since it resumed ferrying passengers on June 1.
“Isa ito sa mga ginawa nating safety measure kasi ‘yung mga empleyado natin lalo na sa maintenance na nag-positive ay naka-quarantine. Yung mga empleyado natin na nag-swab test at hinihintay ang resulta ay naka-quarantine din,” Batan explained. (Alexandria San Juan)
