In light of the growing COVID-19 clusters at bus interchanges, some experts are now calling for measures at these places to be tightened to reduce the likelihood of further virus transmission.
As at Wednesday (1 Sept), 284 frontline staff at bus interchanges have tested positive for COVID-19. This amount represents 3 per cent of 11,000 frontline staff in the bus sector, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on Thursday.
“Our public transport frontline workers were among the first groups to be offered vaccinations earlier this year. To date, over 99 per cent have completed their first dose of the vaccine and over 95 per cent are fully vaccinated,” it stated in a press release.
LTA noted that the infected workers are mostly asymptomatic or showing only mild symptoms, and that no one has fallen seriously ill. All detected cases at the bus interchanges so far have been confined to workers and some household members.
According to the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) update on Wednesday, a total of 314 COVID-19 cases have been linked to clusters at eight bus interchanges – at Tampines, Boon Lay, Jurong East, Toa Payoh, Bishan, Punggol, Clementi, and Sengkang.
Following that, some experts interviewed by The Straits Times (ST) on Thursday have called for tightening measures at bus interchanges.
An infectious disease expert from the Rophi Clinic, Dr Leong Hoe Nam, cautioned that the rising COVID-19 clusters at bus interchanges indicated that workplace practices across different interchanges could be causing the virus to spread.
“It could be the rest areas, the way they hand over and talk. There might also be a need to look at toilets, where they take out their masks, wash their faces – the toilet may turn out to be the most contaminated place.
“The really essential workers, who cannot afford to fall sick, should wear proper surgical masks instead of cloth masks. I still see some people using last year’s National Day Parade masks – those are not good,” he told ST.
While Dr Leong noted that vaccinated commuters should not be panic over the situation, he reminded them to take extra precautions such as wearing two masks, or ones that loop around the back of their heads.
“Bus interchange clusters are highlighted because of contact tracing, but the same scenario may happen to, say, a popular nasi lemak store with many people queueing.
“Some people might ask why (bus interchange clusters did not occur) earlier, but the opportunity had not arisen, the virus was maybe not as transmissible,” he remarked.
Meanwhile, Assistant Professor Terence Fan at the Singapore Management University’s Lee Kong Chian School of Business, who specialises in transport issues, suggested setting up plexiglass panels around the bus driver’s seat to minimize risks of virus transmission.
It was noted that the National Transport Workers’ Union trialled this measure amid reports of assaults on bus drivers last year, but it has not been widely adopted as there were concerns that the reflection caused by these panels affected the drivers’ vision.
In addition to that, Prof Fan also suggested increasing the frequency of rostered testing for bus drivers until the situation improves.
However, he said that it remains uncertain as to whether all the bus drivers were infected by the same strain, adding that the situation will be clearer after virologists’ analyses.
Prof Fan pointed out that the risk of mutual infection increased among those who are close contacts of one another, but even without such factors, the risk of exposure for bus drivers is already “inherently high” because they come into contact with commuters daily.
Even so, he highlighted that the practice of interlining – a practice in which bus drivers ply multiple routes – may not be as dangerous as it sounds, given that the number of commuters the driver is exposed to remains roughly the same.
“It does not hurt to encourage more instances of working from home in the meantime,” said Prof Fan. “This can help reduce the number of commuters on buses and slow down any continuing spread.”
LTA enhanced measures at bus interchanges, segregate staff resting areas from dining areas
The growing clusters at bus interchanges have also prompted LTA to enhance measures at these places. These measures include segregating staff resting areas from dining areas, single seating at dining areas, as well as setting up physical separators at designated smoking areas.
The frequency of cleaning of “high touch points” at staff areas will also be doubled to at least once every hour, it said in a press release on Thursday.
LTA noted that these measures are aimed at reducing the likelihood of “further workplace transmissions”, adding that they have worked with public transport operators and the National Transport Workers’ Union to enhance safe management measures.
The authority also clarified that there has been “no major impact” on bus operations so far.
“LTA has worked with the PTOs [public transport operators] to develop contingency plans that can be implemented quickly to minimise the impact on commuters should more cases emerge from ongoing community surveillance testing.
“Any lengthening of bus service headways required will be progressive, starting with low demand bus services to minimise the impact on commuters,” it asserted.
Minister Ong Ye Kung said in May that public transport can be “very safe” if commuters refrain from talking
All these, however, seem to be contrary to the claims made by then-Minister for Transport Ong Ye Kung, who said that public transport can be “very safe” if commuters refrain from talking and keep their masks on.
Mr Ong, who is now Minister for Health, was responding to questions from the media during the COVID-19 multi-ministry task force press conference which took place in May this year.
“Be assured that the air ventilation within the train is actually very good. Excluding the opening and closing of train doors, every six minutes, all the air is being replenished,” he remarked.
CNA quoted him saying: “So with good ventilation… [if commuters] refrain from talking, keep your masks on, and LTA and the public transport operators running the train frequencies normally like pre-COVID, I think we can keep public transport very safe.”
Netizens slam govt for only taking action after more COVID-19 cases happened
Penning their thoughts under the comments section of ST’s Facebook post, many netizens slammed the government for only taking action after there were more cases being linked to bus interchanges.
One netizen blamed the government for its “constant oversight”, saying that the authorities “just turned a deaf ear” when the people called for stricter measures to be enforced.
“I am so sick with this constant oversight. First it was the airport, now the bus interchange, readers have written to the press for stricter measures to be enforced , authorities just turned a deaf ear to them. How many times these people at the top need to learn before lessons are taught,” the netizen wrote.
Another netizen wrote: “Before any cases detected, anything goes. After cases detected then only take action! What kind of mentality is that? There are still so many people drinking and eating and walking and smoking along crowded areas, or even jogging and cycling amongst the crowded masked pedestrians. All these are waiting for something to happen before actions will be taken.”
