[ad_1]
EMPTY SEATS: The Health Directorate today published a guide with pollution protection tips for public transport, such as buses, trains, trams. The guide describes what companies and passengers should do to reduce the risk of infection. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB scanpix
It is recommended that buses, trams, and trains be half full and passengers should sit in each seat. This will appear in a new guide with infection protection for public transport.
The Health Directorate today issued a supervisor with pollution protection tips for public transport, such as buses, trains, trams. The guide describes what companies and passengers should do to reduce the risk of infection.
– It has been prepared by the Directorate of Health and FHI. Only clear and practical advice is needed. Many can stay at home, but some must travel. So it is important that both travelers and employees can feel safe, Transport Minister Knut Arild Hareide says at a press conference on Tuesday.
Among the recommendations in the supervisor are:
- Employees and passengers with symptoms of respiratory tract infections and quarantined or isolated individuals should stay home.
- Companies must remove hand sanitizer, paper towels, and waste containers and provide good cleaning.
- Passengers must stand / sit scattered, for example, in any other seat, to maintain a sufficient distance between them. At least one meter away is recommended. Household members can sit together.
- It is recommended to use a maximum of 50 percent of passenger capacity to maintain distance.
- In taxis, passengers must sit in the back seat.
NEW ORIENTATION: Transportation Minister Knut Arild Hareide introduced a new public transportation supervisor on Tuesday. Photo: Terje Pedersen
No price increase
– In many ways, Norway is now half a machine. It should be like this for a while. At the same time, everyday life is increasingly behind. The Government has made it clear that public transport services must be maintained at a certain level. So, among other things, people with critical social functions should come and go from work, says Hareide.
– Who will pay the price for only half the capacity used?
– We established the same price level, at least in 2020 for the services that are there. Considerable support has also been provided to the two counties that operate public transportation. They have already received a billion from the Storting. Of course, this is an issue that the government is discussing in dialogue with the counties, responds Hareide.
The new supervisor emphasizes that the most important measure for infection control is for sick people to stay home.
– It is important that those responsible for public communication, such as the bus, the train and the tram, provide good infection control when we now gently reopen society. At the same time, it is important for everyone to be conscious and clean their hands thoroughly and frequently, to stay away and at home if we are sick, says Bjørn Guldvog, Director of Health.
The transport industry has a responsibility to keep the means of transport half full.
– They should be clear, among other things, by labeling which seats you can sit on and which seats you cannot sit to get it. There, the supervisor has provided good and comprehensive guidance on how the transportation industry can handle it. The guards can also contribute to this work, says Hareide.
