By Alexandria San Juan and Andrea Aro
Amid the increasing cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country, the Department of Transportation's (DOTr’s) railway sector assured that all its trains and stations are regularly disinfected as part of its preventive measures against the dreaded disease.
The Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3 on March 10, 2020, implemented its precautionary measures against the spread of COVID-19. (DOTr MRT-3 / MANILA BULLETIN)
Personnel of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Lines 1 and 2, and the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) are strictly implementing preventive measures imposed by the DOTr on public transportation to ensure hygiene in its facilities, prevent the spread of COVID-19, and keep passengers safe.
For the MRT-3, its staff along with some personnel of the Sumitomo-MHI-TESP, its technical partner, continued to disinfect inside the trains, including hand strap, handrails, and seats.
Aside from this, alcohol or hand sanitizers are also placed on the ticket windows, while soaps are available inside the restrooms for passengers to use.
“Patuloy ang ginagawang pagdi-disinfect ng mga tauhan ng MRT-3, kasama ang mga personnel ng Sumitomo-MHI-TESP, sa loob ng mga tren. Ginagawa ang pagdi-disinfect sa turnback sa North Avenue station na tumatagal ng 2-3 minuto.,” the MRT-3 management said in a statement.
“Anim na personnel ang naka-assign upang maglinis sa loob ng bawat tren. Pulido nilang nililinis ang mga handstrap, handrail at mga upuan,” it addded.
The management assured the passengers that they are doing everything to ensure the safety of all.
“Makakaasa po kayo na ginagawa ng MRT-3 ang lahat upang mapanatili ang kaligtasan ninyo, ang aming mga pasahero,” MRT-3 said.
Meanwhile, the Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC) said that it doubled its measures to keep the LRT-1 trains and stations clean and safe for passengers.
"We disinfect our trains after every cycle at the end terminals (Baclaran and Roosevelt). We installed intercom to minimize the contact and provided hygiene supplies," the LRMC stated.
The Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA), meanwhile, said sanitation personnel of the LRT-2 are also regularly disinfecting safety handrails and benches of the train system's coaches in its Cubao terminal station in Quezon City as part of the agency's precautionary measure against COVID-19.
President Duterte declared a State of Public Health Emergency on Sunday after the Department of Health (DOH) raised alert level to Code Red-Sublevel 1, which entails that all medical personnel are required to report in their respective facilities to provide medical services, as a preemptive measure to ensure that the public and private healthcare system are all working together to prepare for possible developments in the outbreak of the disease.