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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider DOH to meet with public, private transport group heads on measures vs. COVID-19

DOH to meet with public, private transport group heads on measures vs. COVID-19

Published Mar 10, 2020 12:00 am
By Hanah Tabios The technical advisory group of the Department of Health (DOH) is set to meet with transport heads of both public and private mass transit systems to craft measures for preventing the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the country. Health Assistant Secretary Maria Vergeire (Facebook) Health Assistant Secretary Maria Vergeire (Facebook) DOH reported a spike of positive cases, with the total number at 33 as of Tuesday afternoon. “Sa ngayon, pinag-iisipan na ng aming technical advisory group, ang tawag mga eksperto, tinitignan po ‘yung mga experiences from other countries kung ano ang pwedeng gawin para magkaroon tayo ng infection control procedures in our different transport types katulad ng LRT, jeepneys, tricycle, and all,” DOH Assistant Secretary Dr. Maria Rosario Vergeire said in Tuesday’s press briefing. (The experts of our technical advisory group are now reviewing the experiences of other countries for what we can do to have infection control procedures in our different transport types like LRT, jeepneys, tricycles, and all.) Vergeire said the agency is now planning to sit down with the transport operators of buses and jeepneys, and the management of private and public-owned trains in the country. Millions of Filipinos rely on public transport for their daily commute. The move aims to “teach” stakeholders how to carefully handle the global health scare by means of employing disease control procedures, such as distributing temperature guns, sanitizers, and alcohols to different strategic areas. After DOH raised the code red status, several social media users pointed out that “social distancing” is impossible to practice especially in crowded areas where commuters are mostly confined. An infectious disease expert recently suggested that the Philippine government should also consider implementing drastic measures which include the temporary shutdown of schools, cancellation of crowd-attracting gatherings, the closure of theatres, and suspension of large-scale sports events to stop the spread of the virus as soon as possible.
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