• The Land Transport Authority said that Covid-19 cases linked to bus interchanges have been confined to works and some household members
• Between July and Sept 1, 284 front-line staff members in the bus interchanges have tested positive for Covid-19 
• This is less than 3 per cent of the 11,000 front-line workers in the bus sector
• To reduce the likelihood of further disease spread, LTA has worked with transport operators and the union to enhance infection control measures

SINGAPORE — All the people found to have Covid-19 that were linked to bus interchanges have so far been confined to workers and some of their household members, and more safeguards are being put in place to prevent disease spread, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said on Thursday (Sept 2).

A total of 341 cases have been traced to eight bus interchanges as of Sept 2, the Ministry of Health said in an update on Thursday night on the coronavirus situation here.

Between July and Sept 1, 284 front-line staff members in the bus interchanges have tested positive for Covid-19. This is less than 3 per cent of the 11,000 front-line workers in the bus sector, LTA said before MOH's update.

In response to media queries, LTA said that 269 of the 284 front-line workers were bus drivers and 213 drivers from the clusters are recovering from the disease.

LTA gave a breakdown of the number of drivers who are still in recovery.

• Toa Payoh Bus Interchange: 67 

• Boon Lay Bus Interchange: 39

• Jurong East Bus Interchange: 27  

• Bishan Bus Interchange: 24 

• Punggol Bus Interchange: 18 

• Tampines Concourse Bus Interchange: 15

• Clementi Bus Interchange: 13 

• Sengkang Bus Interchange: 10 

To keep them safe, public transport operators have taken a “vaccinate, test and trace” approach, it added.

To reduce the likelihood of further workplace transmissions, LTA has worked with the operators and the National Transport Workers’ Union to enhance infection control measures.

They include:

• Segregating resting and dining areas for staff members at bus interchanges

• Having single seating in dining areas

• Putting up physical separators at designated smoking areas

• There will be no interaction and talking allowed at dining and smoking areas

• Doubling the frequency of cleaning of high-touch points at areas for staff members to at least once every hour

• Accelerating the ongoing installation of air purifiers in enclosed working areas

LTA said that the disease clusters have had no major impact on bus operations so far.

However, it has worked with the public transport operators to develop contingency plans that can be executed quickly to minimise the impact on commuters should more cases emerge from ongoing community surveillance testing.

For example, it may redistribute manpower from bus services with lower demand to make up for the loss in headcount.

As of Sept 2, Toa Payoh Bus Interchange is the largest among the clusters with 104 cases. For the rest:

• Boon Lay has 74 cases

• Punggol has 32 

• Jurong East has 30

• Bishan has 29

• Sengkang has 25

• Tampines has 24

• Clementi has 23

INFECTION CAME FROM COMMUNITY 

During a media briefing on the bus interchange clusters on Thursday evening, a spokesperson from MOH said that the clusters likely started after some of the bus drivers got infected within the community.

The infections then spread within the interchanges through interactions among public transport staff members at the workplace, he said.

Still, he stressed that because of how transmissible the Covid-19 Delta variant is, it is difficult to say for sure how the infections spread among the staff members.

When asked whether the bus drivers could have gotten infected through interacting with commuters, the spokesperson said this is unlikely because interactions on the bus are transient in nature. 

There is also no evidence so far that the infection spread among the interchanges through bus routes, he added.

This is because an analysis of the Covid-19 strains from the infected public transport workers are “very similar” to that of the wider community.

Public transport front-line workers were among the first groups to be offered vaccination earlier this year.

LTA said that more than 99 per cent of them have completed their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine and more than 95 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Transport Minister S Iswaran, at a separate event the next day, said that medical experts had not found evidence suggesting that the coronavirus had spread to commuters.

Asked whether a lack of safety measures had led to the clusters, he told reporters: “I don’t think it’s a case of the people involved not taking adequate measures.

“It’s about adjusting and adapting to new circumstances, as the evidence becomes clearer about the virus, but also about how it impacts that particular setting.”

Mr Iswaran was speaking on the sidelines of an industry event held by LTA on Friday.

He said that medical experts were still studying how the transport workers had first contracted the coronavirus and will release their findings once their analysis has been completed.

“But, meanwhile, we are moving ahead with all these additional safeguards, because we want to make sure that the transport workers and, in particular, bus captains are safe. And, at the same time, also that public transport continues without any impact.” ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY DARYL CHOO