Toronto-area transit agencies are instituting enhanced cleaning procedures in the wake of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) spokesperson Stuart Green confirmed that streetcars, buses, and subways are being disinfected on a daily bases as a precaution.
"We are doing daily wipe-downs of all the hand rails, all the touchpoints, handles, elevator buttons. All of those things that people are touching throughout the day in stations," Green said.
"On our vehicles, we are doing the same thing. We are doing daily wipe downs of the grab bars, the straps, all of those sorts of things."
He added that the transit agency is also looking into applying a "longer lasting surface treatment" that has been used in the past.
"We’ve had some success with it. It is an anti-microbial coating so we are looking at that again and maybe reapplying that. Those are some of the things we are doing for the customer-side of things," Green noted.
Metrolinx is also implementing additional measures to protect passengers from the spread of the virus.
There have been 20 confirmed cases of the virus in Ontario, with 19 of those cases in the GTA, and the provincial transit agency previously confirmed that a passenger infected with the virus travelled on a GO bus from Toronto Pearson International Airport to Richmond Hill last week.
At the time, officials confirmed that the bus was thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.
Metrolinx spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins has also said that long-lasting disinfectant spray was recently tested on one of its GO trains and there are plans in the works to expand the use of the spray to all vehicles.
"One of the things you do when you prepare for viruses like this is you stock pile your hand-sanitizers," Aikins said.
"We distributed them throughout all of our stations as well as where employees are to keep them healthy. But we are also exploring putting them in buses. That is something new for us. It is just another way we are trying to make it easier for you to keep your hands clean and to sanitize them."
Airlines take precautions amid outbreak
The infected passenger on board the GO bus had travelled to the country from Iran via an Air Canada flight and the airline subsequently confirmed that the plane had undergone “a number of cleanings” using approved cleaning products, including “hospital-grade disinfectants.”
WestJet said it has been “closely monitoring” the spread of COVID-19 and has been providing “proactive communications to all employee groups on effective preventative measures as recommended by the Centres for Disease Control, WHO and Transport Canada.”
The company said it has added two additional disinfectant products to its “cleaning arsenal.”
“These products are being used on all guest contact surfaces (tray tables, galleys, lavatories, etc.),” the company said in a statement emailed to CTV News Toronto on Tuesday.
“WestJet also proactively procured additional preventative resources including sanitizers, masks and gloves that are available to our crew and guests as requested or as required.”
-With files from The Canadian Press
