Centro Manufacturing Corporation today announced that it has developed social distancing dividers for utility vehicles it manufactures. It is now also developing this for its modern PUVs as well.

Sold as ready-to-install kits, these Anti-COVID-19 dividers may also be retrofitted easily on any existing UV or PUV since only clamps are used and no drilling is required. These dividers can be installed at any of Centro’s three production facilities in Novaliches, Cavite, and Marilao.

Centro Senior Sales Manager Vic Belisario says that these dividers are fully compliant to the requirements of the Land Transportation Office for UVs and PUVs to operate during the quarantine period.

“The divider material is non-permeable, transparent plastic and the dividers are installed conforming to physical distancing. They may be installed one seat apart or even at less than one meter apart. The LTO guidelines allow PUJ operators to install impermeable barriers between rows of seats that are less than one meter apart if they wish to maximize the 50 percent passenger load,” says Belisario.

The dividers are designed to separate the driver from the passenger at his right side and those passengers behind him. At the rear, the dividers will separate the passengers from each other in conformance to social distancing requirements.

“As the pandemic situation improves and more and more UVs and PUVs are allowed to operate, we see the need for these UVs and PUVs to have dividers. This makes them perfect as the vehicle solution to mass transport and the shuttle requirements of offices and factories,” Belisario adds.

After more than two months of quarantine which was first implemented on March 17, the Metro Manila Council has unanimously agreed for NCR to transition from Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine to General Community Quarantine by June 1, 2020.

This is expected to restart the economy and most businesses like SMEs, manufacturing, and services industries will all gear up for resumption of operations. The workforce will all return to work and mass transport will have to be ready to accommodate them. In preparation for this, the LTO has issued guidelines on the operation of land transport in quarantine areas.

Belisario adds that the design of the divider is simple enough to allow for regular disinfecting. It can also be disassembled when the vehicle is used for cargo loading.

Centro Manufacturing says they plan to protect this plastic divider by having it patented, a departure from other international manufacturing giants who have pledged not to earn any money or patent anything in connection with their COVID-19 related efforts.