The Metro Rail Transit Line 3 management is awaiting the results of other employees who have undergone the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction or RT-PCR testing after it has completed the testing of its more than 3,000 staff, an official of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said Thursday.

DOTr Assistant Secretary Goddess Libiran said the swab testing of all the 3,304 personnel of the MRT-3 was completed on Wednesday and are now awaiting the results to determine when to resume the railway's operations.

"Naghihintay pa kami ng results but all 3,304 personnel ay na-test na (We are just waiting for the results but all 3,304 personnel have been tested already). We are expecting the results to come out two to three days after testing," Libiran said.

The mass swab testing of all MRT-3 employees was conducted following the increasing number of confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 among its personnel, mostly from its depot.

As of Tuesday night, the DOTr said  202 employees of the MRT-3 have been infected by the respiratory disease, which includes 181 depot personnel, 15 ticket sellers, three train drivers, two staff from Control Center operations, and a nurse from the Taft Ave. Station in Pasay City.

According to Libiran, of the employees that have been tested, 1,199 already yielded negative results as of Thursday.

The DOTr Assistant Secretary explained that the railway requires at least 1,308 staff to resume operations at a minimum.

As the infected employees include ticket sellers who have interacted with passengers, the MRT-3 management, with the guidance of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), temporarily suspended the line's operations from July 7 until July 11, Saturday.

Transportation Undersecretary for Rails Timothy John Batan explained in a briefing over the week that the shutdown period may be shortened or extended depending on the pace of the testing and the results.

Batan explained that the suspension will be in place until the management confirms a sufficient number of train personnel who will test negative and sustain limited operations.

Extended service hours for bus augmentation

Meanwhile, to ferry more commuters affected by the suspension of the railway's operation, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade has instructed the management to extend the operating hours of the MRT-3 Bus Augmentation Program.

In an advisory, the DOTr said that units under the program have been dispatched at 4 a.m. beginning July 9, due to train passengers requesting for earlier trips as the previous service started at 5:30 a.m.

"Alinsunod po sa direktiba ni Secretary Tugade, kinausap po natin ‘yung bus company at nakuha po natin ang kanilang commitment na mag-start ng bus dispatching ng alas-kwatro ng madaling araw simula July 9. Para sa mga commuter ito. Para sa bayan," MRT-3 Director for Operations Michael Capati said.

(In line with Secretary Tugade's directive, we have discussed with the bus companies and got their commitment to start bus dispatching at 4 a.m. beginning July 9. This is for the riding public, this is for the people.)

Aside from this, the DOTr chief also ordered to extend the last dispatching of buses from the designated stations at North Avenue and Taft Avenue to 10 p.m. from the previous 8 p.m.

Tugade also advised the MRT-3 management to ensure that the three-minute regular dispatch system of buses under the augmentation program is strictly implemented.

He added that this move aims to reduce the number of commuters queueing at different stations, especially during the morning rush hour.

A mini loop between Timog Ave. in Quezon City and Ortigas in Pasig City is also operational to service passengers, where shuttle services or mini buses will be allowed to pick up and drop off passengers at the curbside.