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Plastic dividers help passengers maintain physical distance in a jeepney navigating the Tandang
Route Sora-Quezon City Council. RESEARCH ARCHIVE / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
MANILA, Philippines – The one meter physical distance rule between commuters on public transport will remain in effect until President Rodrigo Duterte decides on the issue.
In a tweet on Thursday, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said that transportation chief Arthur Tugade “stated at (a) meeting of the IATF (Interagency Working Group on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases) that (the) subway rule in transpo public[rtation] remains ”until Duterte announced his decision on the controversial relaxation of physical distancing in public utility vehicles (USPs).
Sec Tugade has just stated at an IATF meeting that the rule of one meter in public transport remains until the PRRD decides on the matter
– Harry Roque (@attyharryroque) September 17, 2020
Roque said the IATF held a six-hour meeting Wednesday to “re-evaluate” the policy after medical experts warned that reducing the physical distance of one meter between commuters could lead to further transmission of the coronavirus.
Tugade previously said that the IATF and the National Task Force Against COVID-19 (NTF) allowed the proposal to decrease the physical distancing within the PUVs to 0.75 meters of one meter, which is recommended by the World Health Organization. .
It was announced that the reduced physical distancing rule would begin on Monday, September 14.
However, a study by the Healthcare Professionals Alliance Against COVID-19 showed that shortening the required distance between passengers can result in an additional 686 daily coronavirus infections.
Duterte is expected to announce his decision on the matter on Monday, September 21.
KGA
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