Lowering public transport capacity up to experts, says traffic council

The Inter-Agency Council for Traffic (IACT) on Thursday said it would let experts decide on calls to lower public transport capacity under COVID-19 Alert Level 1, as fresh infections continued to spike. 

"Hindi natin puwede basta-basta sabihing hindi dapat or dapat. Ang tinitingnan natin diyan, mayroong mga ekspertong makakapagsabi niyan. Kung ano po ang hihilingin sa atin, yun ang ating ipapatupad," IACT chief Charlie Del Rosario said in a public briefing. 

(We cannot haphazardly say whether or not this should be implemented. There are experts who can decide on that. We will enforce whatever is asked of us.)

The OCTA research group this week urged government to review the operating capacity of establishments and public utility vehicles.

Government allows establishments to operate at full capacity in areas under the lowest of the country's 5 COVID-19 alert levels, as long as proof of full vaccination is presented. Metro Manila and other dozens of other areas are under Alert 1 until the end of June. 

"Hanggang ngayon, tuloy-tuloy ang ating patakaran lalo na sa public utility vehicles natin na full seating capacity lang. Hindi natin pinapayagan ang standing o nakatayong mga pasahero sa ating mga sasakyan," said IACT's Del Rosario. 

(We continue implementing protocols for public utility vehicles, where only full seating capacity is allowed. We do not allow standing passengers.)

Eating is prohibited inside buses and passengers must wear their face masks at all times, he added. 

• LTFRB reminds PUVs: Standing passengers still not allowed despite Alert Level 1

The Department of Health (DOH) earlier warned that the capital region might be placed under a higher alert level if its health care utilization rises. 
 
The DOH logged 256 new cases on Wednesday, of which 117 infections came from Metro Manila. The number of active cases at 3,211 is the highest in over a month or since May 11, according to the ABS-CBN Data Analytics team. 

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