IATF allows higher passenger capacity for commissioned shuttle services

The government’s COVID-19 task force has allowed commissioned shuttle services to increase their passenger capacity, Malacañang said Friday.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the shuttle services for employees of permitted offices or establishments may adopt a one-seat apart arrangement or a full seating capacity, provided there are necessary dividers and other health and safety measures are in place.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) also directed the Labor and Trade departments to issue the appropriate advisories for the enforcement and monitoring of the health and safety protocols in private shuttles.

“Private establishments are enjoined to commission their own shuttle services for the benefit of their own employees,” the IATF said in a resolution approved on Thursday.

President Rodrigo Duterte’s Cabinet approved last month the imposition of the one-seat-apart policy in public transport.

Commuters must observe the minimum health standards such as wearing of face masks and face shields and no talking and no eating during the trip. — Virgil Lopez/RSJ, GMA News