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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 13) – More passengers can board jeepneys, buses and other modes of public transportation after Cabinet has passed reduced physical distance rules.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque announced on Tuesday that the Executive will allow greater public transport capacity by allowing passengers to take a separate seat.
He clarified that the new rules will only go into effect once they are published in the Official Gazette and will no longer need a separate approval from the Interagency Working Group for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
The Cabinet also allowed the increase in the number of train passengers to 50 percent from the current capacity of 30 percent.
Roque added that more provincial buses, shuttles, transport services and motorcycle taxis will be allowed to operate to accommodate more passengers, as the government accelerates the contracting of services for more bus and jeepney routes.
Eventually, passengers will be able to sit next to each other, as long as there are plastic barriers separating them. If no barriers are available, the use of ultraviolet light for disinfection is also allowed.
This is a deviation from the one meter gap required since public transport gradually reopened in June. The guidelines also require:
1. Use of suitable face masks
2. Use of face shields
3. Do not talk or eat
4. Adequate ventilation
5. Adequate and frequent disinfection
6. No symptomatic passengers
7. Adequate physical distancing
READ: Reducing physical distancing is okay as long as other health measures are in place – Health experts
He said the recommendations come from President Rodrigo Duterte’s economic team, whose members have long said that limited public transportation has been holding back economic recovery after months of community quarantine rules due to the COVID-19 crisis.
The decision was unanimous, Roque said, as cabinet officials knew how crucial the easing of restrictions would be for a further reopening of the economy.
“It is based on science, it is based on studies … The confinements have been causing poverty and malnutrition on the part of our children,” said Roque when asked what made some officials who previously were against the plan to cut the distance from one meter down to just 0.3 meters.
“After months of quarantine, we already know what to do: mask, prevention, cleaning [we already know what to do: wear a mask, keep your distance, and wash your hands]”he added, noting that the” Seven Commandments “should be sufficient to reduce the risk of infections.
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There are 342,826 confirmed cases in the country as of Monday, where 43,332 are considered active. More than 290,000 people have recovered, while more than 6,300 died from COVID-19.
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