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Work start times for the public could be staggered and one-way systems could be established for travelers to avoid overwhelming the transportation system when closure restrictions are eventually eased, the transportation secretary said.
Grant Shapps also suggested that the government was considering measures to encourage workers to take “active transportation” – bike or walk to work.
He said there were no immediate plans to alter physical distancing measures to address the spread of the coronavirus when the government reviews its latest phase-out on Thursday. But as part of the plan to get people back to work, public transportation could be tightly regulated to prevent a further increase in cases of the disease.
“Things like amazing work times, obviously [are] very important to avoid those morning spikes. The crushes would completely disagree with the social estrangement, ”Shapps told the Sophy Ridge program on Sky News Sunday.
Trains, buses and transport interchanges could also be equipped with hand sanitizer, since handwashing was still more important than wearing face masks, he suggested.
“We can help with that by trying to have hand sanitizers,” he said. “One way systems, spaces on platforms and at bus stops and that is something that is clearly marked.”
He ruled out temperature controls for people using public transportation, saying that if someone had a temperature, they should be home and not travel at all.
The UK government has said that these five tests must be met before considering reducing the coronavirus blocking restrictions:
- The NHS has sufficient capacity to provide critical care and specialized treatment across the UK.
- A sustained and steady drop in daily coronavirus deaths
- Reliable data to show that the infection rate is declining to manageable levels across the board
- Operational challenges including testing and personal protective equipment (PPE) are available with the supply capable of meeting future demand
- Confident that any adjustment to current measures will not risk a second spike of infections that overwhelms the NHS
He was shown England’s high excess mortality rate compared to other European countries during the program, but he ruled it out for not giving a real indication of the complex nature of the virus’s impact.
Given the number of deaths per week above the normal average, he was told, the England line was much higher and continuing to rise.
When asked if the government had failed to keep the deaths down, he replied that the comment by the government’s chief medical adviser, Chris Whitty, is “it actually needs to be kept in mind for a much longer period of time.” Then we would have to look back for more than a year.
“It is much more complex than what you are making sound for the simple reason that there are other factors to consider in excess mortality that we will not know today.” For example, what do you do in terms of other diseases and illnesses and what was the impact?
He said that a country’s demographics, obesity rate, geography and population density would also have an impact on the interpretation of excess mortality.
Statistician David Spiegelhalter told The Guardian that making international comparisons was complex and that it was too early to attempt to do so.
Shapps also confirmed that the NHS coronavirus tracking app will be tested this week and will launch later this month. It was being tested first on the Isle of Wight, and for it to work successfully across the country, about “50, 60% of people” needed to download it, he said.
