More than 300 railway personnel were tested positive for CoVID-19 disease, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) official said on Wednesday.

Transportation Undersecretary for Railways Timothy John Batan said to ensure the safety of railway personnel and passengers, Secretary Arthur Tugade ordered antigen testing.

"Our antigen testing is ongoing. Presently we tested 1,709 people as of yesterday in the whole LRT 1,2,3 and PNR and out of the 1,709, there were 345 who were tested positive based on antigen," he said.

"The positive cases will undergo confirmatory RT-PCR test and so far, 56 were confirmed positive according to RT-PCR," he added.

Batan said COVID-19 testing will continue until all railway personnel are tested.

"The antigen testing started on Monday and it is ongoing," he said.

Batan said DOTr will also conduct random antigen testing on railway passengers.

"The LRT1, LRT2, MRT3 and PNR, are presently preparing the stations where it will be done, we will start within the week and while we are on Alert Level 3," he said.

"It will only be done on some of our stations, it is just sampling, not all the passengers and it is voluntary. It is consensual. We will not prevent our passengers to ride and the result will be texted to them," he added. Robina Asido/DMS