MRT-3 deploys fewer trains as 186 workers test positive for COVID-19

MANILA, Philippines — The Metro Rail Transit Line 3 will be deploying fewer trains starting Monday, following a surge in COVID-19 infections among its workers.

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) as of 8 a.m. announced only 11 operational trains, with 10 currently running — a significant reduction from last week's 16 to 19 trains.

Transport officials on Sunday revealed that 59 more MRT-3 personnel tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease, bringing the total number of infected railway workers to 186.

Transportation Undersecretary for Rails Timothy John Batan told ABS-CBN that, of those infected, 169 are depot workers, 12 are station personnel, 3 are train drivers and 2 are from the operations control center.

Transport officials have repeatedly maintained that a majority of those who have contracted the virus are employed by MRT-3's maintenance service provider Sumitomo-MHI-TESP.

Last June 18, only 15 MRT-3 workers were reported to have contracted the disease. This means that infections have shot up to around 12 times as many railway personnel in less than three weeks.

The department on Monday reiterated that it was conducting swab tests for all of its employees, including depot workers, as "part of MRT-3’s intensified implementation of health and safety measure to prevent the further transmission of COVID-19."

LOOK: Pursuant to the IATF-EID guidelines in protecting both of MRT-3 personnel and passengers from COVID-19, all of its depot and mainline personnel, including the personnel of its maintenance service provider and other subcontractors, are undergoing RT-PCR testing. pic.twitter.com/2FBASU3tUw

— DOTr MRT-3 (@dotrmrt3) July 6, 2020

"MRT-3 personnel who have undergone the RT-PCR testing have been advised to undergo home quarantine while waiting for the results," DOTr MRT-3 said on its Twitter account. 

The department added that workers who test positive for the disease will be brought to government quarantine facilities at the World Trade Center in Pasay, the Philippine Arena in Bulacan and the Philsports complex in Pasig.

Last weekend, MRT-3 suspended operations completely for rail replacement services and announced that it will do the same for the weekends of August 8 to 9, August 21 to 23, and September 12 to 13.

This comes as general community quarantine is extended to July 15 in the National Capital Region. The first few weeks of Metro Manila's GCQ saw much of the same traffic problems that plagued commuters pre-COVID come back with a vengeance in the absence of a number of modes of transportation.

The health department on Sunday logged a record high of 2,434 new cases, bumping up the country's tally to 44,254. The death toll, meanwhile, currently stands at 1,297. — Bella Perez-Rubio

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