MANILA, Philippines — Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT-3) general manager Rodolfo Garcia has tested positive for Covid-19 and is currently confined in a hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU), Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said Thursday.
“Tinamaan ho ang ating general manager ng MRT-3. Nandoon siya ngayon sa isang hospital, nasa ICU,” Tugade told reporters in an interview at the sidelines of the inaugural run of the Philippine National Railways’ diesel hydraulic locomotive and passenger coaches from Indonesia, as he gave updates on Covid-19 cases among MRT-3 personnel.
(The general manager of MRT-3 was infected with the new coronavirus. He is now in an ICU of a hospital.)
In an online press briefing, DOTr undersecretary for railways Timothy John Batan also confirmed that MRT-3 director for operations Michael Capati has tested positive for Covid-19.
However, Batan refused to disclose further information about the health status of Garcia and Batan, saying the privacy of the patients should be respected.
“In the interest of the privacy and respect na rin to the family of all the patients sa MRT-3, lahat ng may Covid-19, I hope maunawaan sana na we would like to comment no further on this matter kasi patient privacy na rin sana,” he said.
(In the interest of privacy and respect to the family of all the patients in the MRT-3 who have Covid-19, I hope you will understand that we would like to comment no further on this matter because this concerns the patients’ privacy.)
Tugade made the announcement on the positive diagnosis of Garcia for the disease after the DOTr revealed that 36 personnel of the MRT-3 depot in Quezon City, including one who died last Monday, have tested positive for Covid-19. Six personnel of the rail line’s maintenance service provider Sumitomo-Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have also tested positive for the new coronavirus, according to DOTr.
The department said those who tested positive are undergoing quarantine.
According to DOTr, MRT-3 depot office personnel have shifted to a work from home arrangement as of last week, with only a limited number of essential office personnel reporting physically at work after obtaining a negative swab test result.
The DOTr, however, assured that there is no active case of Covid-19 among station personnel of the MRT-3.