Currently there isn’t any evidence that shows that COVID-19 clusters in bus interchanges have resulted in the spreading of the deadly coronavirus to commuters, said Transport Minister S. Iswaran on Friday (3 September).
“The experts have said that there is no evidence of any spread to commuters but we will make sure we observe all the safeguards that have been put in place,” said Mr Iswaran while speaking to the media on the sidelines of Land Transport Industry Day at the Land Transport Authority (LTA) office in Bedok.
He added, “If there is a need to do more, the LTA will work with public transport operators to do so.”
He went on to note that the priority right now is to ensure that both transport workers and commuters are safe, adding that the public transport system continues to function.
As of Wednesday, Singapore have reported 314 cases – including 284 bus drivers and service staff at bus interchanges. The remaining are their household contacts and members of the public.
The figure increased to 341 cases on Thursday.
When asked on how the drivers could have been infected in the first place, Mr Iswaran said that the matter is still being studied by medical experts.
“It’s plausible that they may have contracted (the virus) from the community, but at the same time, it is also the case that there could have been some spread at the workplace because of the fact that they come together for certain types of activities,” he said.
He added that currently there isn’t any major impact on bus services.
“This is something… we are tracing very closely, because we need to make sure that the bus captains are well enough to do their job and do it safely.”
On Thursday (2 September), the LTA announced a number of new measures to reduce the risk of transmission at bus interchanges.
The resting and dining areas for staff in all public bus interchanges have been segregated where only one staff member are permitted to sit at each table to dine.
In order to detect infection cases at a much faster pace, bus drivers and staff handling service counters in bus interchanges will also have to undergo routine testing at least once a week from Thursday.
Prior to this, transport operators only carried out antigen rapid tests (ART) mostly on an ad hoc basis at bus interchanges on a certain percentage of staff.
However, after a positive case was detected, all staff at a particular interchange were asked to undertake ARTs. Those who tested positive or whose results were inconclusive were then asked to take polymerase chain reaction swabs.
Public transport “very safe” if commuters wear mask and refrain from talking – Ong Ye Kung
In May this year, then-Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung said that although there might be “transient” crowding at certain train stations, public transport is still “very safe” if commuters wear a mask and refrain from talking.
“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 said.
He added, “So with good ventilation… (if commuters) refrain from talking, keep your mask 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.”
