1 Staff Protection
The Public transport operators will take the following measures to protect staff, crew and passengers from infection and cross infection by:
i. Enforcing of the required COVID-19 prevention protocols which includes thermal screening, hand washing/sanitization, and use of face masks by customers, staff, crew and passengers before entering offices, vehicles, and work places to minimize the risk of spreading the virus.
ii. Providing adequate and quality Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to the staff.
iii. Ensuring that all staff wear appropriately the face masks as recommended by the government.
iv. Providing contact free temperature recording device at appropriate points.
v. Isolating any member of staff and crew on duty whose body temperature is 37.5° C (99.5°F) or higher for further evaluation.
Where a suspected passenger is identified on board before departure, the crew should immediately call 719 for guidance.
vi. Undertake cleaning and disinfection of offices and vehicles using standard detergents and disinfectants on a regular basis.
vii. Providing and placing hand wash facilities and/or hand sanitizers at all access points to encourage hand hygiene.
viii.Ensuring that offices are well ventilated to minimize air recirculation and allow the use of fresh air.
ix. Providing waste bins with a liner where used face masks could be disposed of safely.
x. Ensuring physical distancing of 1.5Metres is maintained in the work place and when boarding.
PASSENGER MANAGEMENT
The public transport operators will:
i. Maintain and keep passenger manifest for all long distance trip for a minimum period of one month before destroying them.
ii. Provide without undue delay and without prejudice to applicable data protection rules, the following data to the relevant public health authorities upon request for contact tracing purposes:
a. Full name;
b. Nationality;
c. Passport or Identification Number;
d. Telephone number;
e. Allocated seat, and
f. Usual residence
iii. Ensure that the driver’s contact address is prominently displayed for any reference.
iv. Sensitize passengers on safety measures before departure for the distance journey.
v. Ensure that every public service vehicle have waste bins with a liner for safe waste disposal.
RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE DRIVER/CREW
In addition to practicing the hygiene measures of frequent hand washing with soap and use of 70% alcohol based sanitizers, the crew will take the following precautions to protect themselves and the passengers:
i. Shall prominently display inside of the vehicle number of seats available to ensure that the number of passengers on board does not exceed the recommended sitting capacity during the COVID-19 period as follows:
a. 14 seater – allowed sitting capacity of 10 including the driver and crew
b. 33 seater – allowed sitting capacity of 18 including the driver and crew
c. 51 seater – allowed sitting capacity of 30 including the driver and crew
d. In case of a motor cycle/bodaboda, only one pillion passenger shall be carried
e. TukTuk shall only be allowed to carry one passenger at any time (MOH to consider review of the directive to allow tuktuk to carry two passengers), and
f. For a five (5) seater car – a maximum of 3 passengers (provided in the law), however, the law is silent on the number of passengers for a seven seater cars.
g. Proposing that for a seven (7) seater car – a maximum of 5 passengers
ii. Shall ensure that all passengers are hand sanitized before boarding.
iii. The crew are encouraged to use surgical face masks at all time during the journey because of the high risk of contracting and spreading the virus due to exposure from huge customers interacting with them daily.
iv. Ensure proper air ventilation of the vehicle while on transit to minimize 7 air recirculation and allow the use of fresh air.
v. Shall not allow any hawking in order to reduce the risk of contamination while on transit.
vi. No unnecessary stop-overs while on transit and if possible make non-stop journey to decrease the risk of contamination posed by unnecessary contact with the local population and other travelers.
vii. The crew will make constant on-board announcements reminding passengers on the need to uphold personal precautionary measures to use face masks at all times while onboard.
viii.Disembarkation at the destination will be conducted by rows starting with the closest rows to the exits in order to ensure physical distancing to the maximum extent possible and avoid queues.
ix. The crew shall ensure that the vehicle is disinfected after every trip.
MANAGEMENT OF PASSENGERS ON-BOARD WITH SUSPECTED COVID-19
For the management of a suspected passenger on board, the following measures should be adhered to:
i. If a person shows signs and symptoms suggestive of COVID-19, the crew should immediately call 719 for further advice and or drive into the next offsite pre-identified gazetted health care facility.
ii. The crew shall ensure the respective passenger is wearing and continues to wear a face mask in order to limit the spread of contaminated droplets with the potential spread of COVID-19. In addition, the driver should provide a surgical face mask and the suspect should be encouraged to use coughing and sneezing etiquette.
iii. After removal of the COVID-19 suspect, cleaning and disinfection of the vehicle should be performed before proceeding with the journey.
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