56 railway personnel test positive for COVID-19
MANILA, Philippines — Fifty-six railway personnel tested positive for COVID-19 using the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests, Transportation Undersecretary Jonathan Batan said on Wednesday.
Batan said that 1,709 personnel of the Philippine National Railways (PNR), Light Rail Transit (LRT) Lines 1 and 2, and Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3 underwent antigen testing this week.
“Magsimula po ng mag-umpisa po itong linggo na ‘to ay nag-utos po si Secretary [Arthur] Tugade na para po masigurado ‘yung kaligtasan po at safety ng ating mga passengers at maging ng ating mga railway personnel ay nag-umpisa po tayo ng tinatawag natin na mga antigen testing para po ma-detect ‘yung COVID-19 dito nga po sa ating PNR, LRT-1, LRT-2, at MRT-3,” he shared during the Laging Handa briefing.
(Starting this week, Secretary Tugade ordered the antigen testing of railway personnel of PNR, LRT-1, LRT-2, and MRT-3 to ensure their safety as well as the passengers’.)
Out of the 1,709 railway personnel tested using antigen, 345 yielded positive results; they then underwent confirmatory RT-PCR tests.
“’Yan pong mga positive cases na ‘yan ay sumasailalim po sa tinatawag nating confirmatory na RT-PCR test at so far po, 56 po ang confirmed po natin na positive, according po to RT-PCR,” Batan said.
(Those positive cases underwent confirmatory RT-PCR test and so far, 56 were confirmed positive for COVID-19.)
Batan likewise noted that testing will continue until the rest of the week to test all rail personnel.
“Magpapatuloy po itong testing na ito sa kabuuan ng linggo hangga’t po ma-test natin ang lahat ng ating mga rail personnel at ng ma-quarantine natin at mabigyan po ng naaayong lunas ‘yun pong mga made-detect po nating positive cases,” he said.
(Testing will continue until the end of the week to test all rail personnel and those who will test positive will undergo quarantine and receive proper treatment.)
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