EDITORIAL - It will be difficult, but it must be done

One of the guidelines set down by the community quarantine called for by Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella in his Executive Order 052 provides that there shall be social distancing in public utility jeepneys and other public transport.

As of yesterday afternoon over 30 public vehicles have been apprehended for violating this rule, with more expected as drivers flaunt this guideline.

We cannot blame the city for issuing this guideline, it is only doing what it finds is best for the populace. A PUJ is a good place to catch not just COVID-19, but any nasty virus for that matter because of the lack of personal space. A cough or sneeze from anyone has the chance to infect everyone in the vehicle.

However, we cannot blame the drivers for ignoring or not being able to implement social distancing among passengers either.

Mostly, the rule of thumb, especially for PUJs that have to wait in terminals, is that they have to fill up the seats to maximize earnings. This goes for the really small PUJs. More passengers means more earnings and less passengers means less earnings. Between earning more and earning less, it’s not hard to guess what drivers will choose.

It gets more complicated. Let’s say a driver conscientiously enforces social distancing among his passengers, and tells some of them to get off. If ignored, can he physically remove them without legal consequences?

That being said, social distancing is one of the best countermeasures we have against COVID-19.

While the World Health Organization has declared that finding and isolating those infected with COVID-19 is the best way to fight the virus, the truth remains that we really don’t have enough testing kits for this. Until that happens, the best weapon we have against COVID-19 infection is really social distancing, even in public vehicles.

So until a better idea presents itself, we all have to make a little sacrifice.