FILLING THE GAP
With the operations of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3 suspended until Saturday due to the growing number of train employees testing positive for the coronavirus, the Department of Transportation is deploying 90 buses that will pick up commuters at selected MRT 3 stations on Edsa.
The Department of Transportation (DOTR) on Tuesday released the work schedules of 15 Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3 ticket sellers who had tested positive for the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to warn passengers who might have had contact with them.
In a statement, the DOTR advised the riding public to “thoroughly observe their condition and undergo home quarantine to prevent the further transmission of the virus.”
The 15 ticket sellers were among the 198 MRT 3 workers found positive for the contagious disease as of Tuesday morning. The discovery of the cases earlier prompted the DOTR to suspend the operations of Metro Manila’s busiest railway system for five days starting Tuesday to allow all 3,200 MRT 3 personnel to undergo testing.
The bulk of the positive cases, 177 out of 198, was found among maintenance workers assigned at the underground depot near the North Avenue station. Three were train drivers, two were control center personnel while one was a nurse.
Work hours
Only the 15 ticket sellers were believed to have interacted with passengers. Those assigned to the North Avenue and Araneta Center-cubao stations worked from 1 to 11 p.m. and from 4:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Those at the Quezon Avenue station had the 1 to 11 p.m. shift while those assigned to the Gma-kamuning station were on duty between 4:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
The MRT 3 needs at least 1,300 workers to be able to resume limited operations but so far, only 336 have been confirmed to be free of COVID-19 as of Tuesday, according to the DOTR’S own figures. 90 buses to be deployed Commuters displaced by the MRT 3’s shutdown may avail themselves of the MRT 3 bus augmentation program which will deploy 90 buses at three-minute intervals starting at 5:30 a.m., or the
Edsa busway service which runs from Monumento to the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange.
Assistant Transport Secretary Goddes Libiran said they had asked the bus augmentation program’s contractors to adjust the opening time after commuters were spotted lining up as early as 4:30 a.m. Monday.
As of Tuesday, the other two train systems in Metro Manila, the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Lines 1 and 2, have not reported any coronavirus cases among their personnel.