56 train employees catch virus

MANILA, Philippines — A total of 345 railway employees have tested positive for COVID-19 after they underwent antigen tests, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) reported yesterday.

Of the number of infected train personnel, Transportation Undersecretary for railways Timothy John Batan said 56 have been confirmed positive for the virus after undergoing reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction or RT-PCR tests.

Batan said a total of 1,709 personnel of the Light Rail Transit-1, LRT-2, Metro Rail Transit-3 (MRT-3) and the Philippine National Railways (PNR) have undergone antigen testing since Monday.

“Out of these 1,709, we have recorded 345 COVID-positive cases based on antigen. So far, 56 ang confirmed positive after undergoing RT-PCR tests,” he said at a press briefing.

With Metro Manila now under Alert Level 3, the DOTr said its railways sector has undertaken steps to ensure that both the rail personnel and commuters are protected against COVID-19.

The DOTr said all personnel of the LRT-1, LRT-2, MRT-3 and PNR are required to take an antigen test, with a confirmatory RT-PCR test for those who will test positive.

“Antigen testing started on Monday. It is ongoing by batches due to the number of people we have in the rail sector,” Batan said.

“The testing will continue throughout the week until we test all our rail personnel, and to quarantine and give the necessary treatment for those who are infected,” he added.

Batan said rail operations are not affected so far by the large number of infected train personnel.

In April last year, hundreds of rail employees contracted COVID-19, which resulted in limited train operations.

The DOTr earlier said the random antigen testing of consenting passengers would commence within the week. – Ghio Ong