Group welcomes decision to bring back 1-meter distance rule in public transpo

The Healthcare Professionals Alliance Against COVID-19 (HPAAC) on Friday welcomed the government’s decision to suspend the policy of reducing the one-meter physical distancing requirement in public utility vehicles.

"We express our gratitude to everyone in the government and the private sector who supported this cause," the HPACC said in a statement.

"HPAAC believes that there’s power in solidarity.  The broad support from various sectors fuels our passion to continue to stand for evidence-informed policies and evidence-based interventions  that continue to protect our fellow Filipinos from this pandemic,” it added.

The government earlier approved a proposal to reduce social distancing in public transport vehicles from 1 meter to 0.75 meters beginning September 14. It could be further reduced to 0.5 meters after two weeks, and to 0.3 meters after another two weeks.

The alliance said it believed that the suspension of the policy prevented additional COVID-19 transmissions that the 0.75 distancing may have caused.

"Yesterday, there were 2,600 reported new cases of COVID-19 in the Greater Manila Area... given the current context, reducing physical distancing in the transport sector to 0.75 meter will aggravate this by adding 700 new daily infections,” it said.

It projected that the 700 newest cases will result in an additional 25,000 contacts. It added that of the 700 cases, 140 will be hospitalized and seven will die.

"These figures are based on conservative assumptions, and the real picture could be worse,” the HPACC said.

According to the HPAAC, reducing social distancing was not the only option to address the  shortage of transportation in the country.

It recommended the following solutions:

•     Incentivize return to operation of PUVs by early release of subsidies
•     Facilitate service contracting of transport providers
•     Increase active transport options soonest (e.g. bicycle lanes, walkways)
•     Implement staggered work hours for selected businesses to reduce vehicle congestion

"To end, we see the decision of the government to suspend the policy of reducing physical distancing as a sign that our policymakers are seriously weighing the different factors regarding this important public health decision.  We pray that our leaders retain the 1-meter policy until the situation becomes more favorable,” it said.—AOL, GMA News