Marikina wants all of city’s 6,000 trike drivers tested

Three tricycle drivers in Marikina City have tested positive for the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as the local government ramped up an ambitious plan to test all 6,000 tricycle drivers who are back on the road under the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).Mayor Marcelino Teodoro said in a radio interview on Tuesday that 1,084 tricycle drivers were tested on Monday using rapid test kits. The three who tested positive were in quarantine and would undergo swab tests for confirmation.

“If it’s confirmed that they are positive, we will start providing the medical treatment they need,” Teodoro said. “They need to be isolated so we can avoid local transmission.”

The city is aiming to administer the 6,000 rapid tests by Friday, but Teodoro said tricycle drivers did not need to wait to be tested before resuming operations. It was a precautionary measure, he added, to protect them, their families and commuters.

Tricycle drivers were allowed to operate anew provided they ferry only one passenger per trip while routinely disinfecting their vehicles.

Marikina has taken a leading role in testing workers since lockdown restrictions began to ease under the MECQ. Unlike areas that have opted to require employers to pay for testing, the city has shouldered the costs for both testing and treatment for any COVID-19-positive employee. INQ