It seems that on this first day of general community quarantine (GCQ) in the metro, traffic along EDSA has returned to the sorry state that we’ve been accustomed to over the years. The situation at the MRT stations, however, was entirely different.
By the looks of it—at least judging by these photos—the safety guidelines for public transport are being met. Physical distancing is being properly enforced at the queues, and the coaches are only being filled to a certain capacity. Looks pretty good, doesn’t it?
Well, it doesn’t tell the whole story. As we reported before, the MRT-3 management said that waiting times at the stations are expected to take much longer than usual due to the limited-capacity operations. That said, you have to admit that commuters complying with safety protocols is certainly a good start. It’s a far cry from what we saw during the first few days of community quarantine.
In the coming days, we’ll get a better picture of what the situation is really like on both sides of the fence—from both commuters’ and the train management’s standpoints. For now, let’s keep our fingers crossed that the safety guidelines will continue to be met.
For more of our stories on the ongoing crisis, click here. For the latest news and updates on COVID-19, check out reportr.world/covid-19.
