Train commuters on edge amid COVID-19 scare

KEEPING ’EM CLEAN Crews of Metro Rail Transit and Light Rail Transit are leaving no stone unturned to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among its nearly 1.5 million daily commuters. Garbed in vests, plastic suits and masks, they spray the handrails and seats with a hospital-grade disinfectant when the passengers have disembarked after every full loop. —GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE/LYN RILLON

As officials urge the public to observe proper hygiene and “social distancing” amid the spread of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) strain in the capital region, the vulnerability of Manila’s public transport—characterized by precisely the same conditions where the virus could stew and infect hundreds in one go—has Will*, 22, nervous.“Every time I leave the house, it’s always going to be a risk,” he told the Inquirer.

Though healthy, he was wearing a surgical mask—something health officials have been discouraging so as not to deplete stocks that could otherwise go to health workers on the front line. But “the only thing that’s not making me panic is my own efforts to sanitize and boost my immune system, because I can’t change my commuting routine,” he said.

Will’s sentiment reflected the general concerns of Metro Manila’s commuters, who face great risks in contracting the lethal virus simply by traveling by train, bus or jeepney.

1.5M passengers

The metro’s three main railways alone—Light Rail Transit (LRT) 1 and 2, and Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3—carry nearly 1.5 million passengers every day from over 10 cities.

“We’re already well aware of the problems in public transport, and even during health emergencies like this, it’s still not easy to procure new trains, or open new franchises for buses and jeepneys,” said Julius Dalay, chair of Commuters of the Philippines.

“It is worrying to be commuting in this time, but people don’t necessarily have to avoid it as long as they take precautionary measures.”

As proposals for a total Manila lockdown remain shelved for the meantime, transport officials have doubled down on sanitation efforts on all public utility vehicles to minimize the possibility of an outbreak in these cramped spaces.

At the MRT 3, for example, men in reflectorized orange vests and surgical masks methodically scour the train’s handrails and seats with high-grade disinfectant after every full loop (North Avenue-Taft-North Avenue).

MRT 3 staff said they have been doing this since January, when the virus was still making its way outside Wuhan, China, epicenter of the now global epidemic.

INQUIRER PHOTO/LYN RILLON

Full-blast disinfection

But the full-blast disinfection procedures began only when the Department of Health last week confirmed local transmissions among Filipinos. The LRT Authority, meanwhile, also began sanitizing its five trains after every full loop at Cubao station in Quezon City. Three men in plastic suits disinfect the trains with a hospital-grade spray before redeploying the train back in the mainline. The process takes three to five minutes, according to LRT 2 staff.

For Dalay, the bigger problem is the road-based PUVs (buses, jeepneys, UV Expresses and taxis), where disinfecting the vehicles is not regulated.

“At least at the MRT and the LRTs, each passenger is subjected to a temp check and the trains undergo regular sanitation,” Dalay said. “You can’t expect the same for buses and jeepneys every time they complete their route. There’s virtually no barriers for sick people from getting on.”

This has made commuters like Roderick Layco, 48, jittery. “I try to wear a mask myself and use sanitizers and alcohols. But when your fellow passenger is not as diligent and coughs in front of you without a mask, that’s scary, right?”

To remedy this, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has directed all PUV operators and drivers to comply with Memorandum Circular No. 2020-005. The MC requires, among others, all drivers and operators to wear face masks, and for terminal operators to sanitize their premises and provide disinfectants and sanitizers for passengers. “We call out to all drivers and operators to be reminded of their responsibility to provide a safe and reliable public transport system for the riding public, now more than ever,” LTFRB chair Martin Delgra said in a statement.