MRT3 staffs positive with Covid 19 rose to 127

Metro Rail Transit Line 3 or Metrostar Express (MRT3) staffs who tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) grows to 127 According to Department of Transportation ( DOT).

Photo credit: mrt3.com

"May pumasok na bagong update, so [92], ngayon pong araw na ito ay 127 na po 'yung napag-alaman na COVID-19 positive among our depot personnel," (An update came out today, we already have 127 depot personnel who are positive with Covid 19.) DOTr Communications and Commuter Affairs Assistant Secretary Goddes Hope Libiran said.

The depot personnel were different from the station personnel who directly deal with MRT3 passengers. 124 out of 127 cases were employees of maintenance provider Sumitomo-Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), while three were MRT3 depot personnel, Libiran clarified.

MRT3 depot and their station personnel were ordered by the Department of Transportion (DOT) and Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF) to have their swab test taken following the earlier report of 25 positive cases. The new cases were found out after.

A home quarantine was imposed to those who took the test and the areas where positive cases were detected are put in lockdown. As of the moment, employees who tested negative are the only ones allowed to enter the depot.

Sumitomo's Masanori Honda said that they will try to keep the same maintenance performance through the week and will update the MRT3 management everyday.

“We would like to discuss with DOTr MRT3 office day by day, how much maintenance level we would be able to keep, in view of the number of COVID-19 infected people,” Honda said.

MRT3 said it reached its highest riding patronage to date on Monday, June 29 during general community quarantine, carrying 67,821 passengers at its reduced capacity of 13% or 153 passengers per train, down from 1,182.