The Regional District of Nanaimo is taking steps to combat risk of COVID-19, but won’t put hand sanitizer on buses due potential misuse.
At the RDN transit select committee meeting Thursday, Daniel Pearce, general manager of transportation and emergency services, detailed steps that are being taken in light of the coronavirus pandemic and said supply of hand sanitizer was short.
“The other issue is that transit riders could potentially try to drink or use that hand sanitizer for [non-intended use] reasons,” Pearce said. “We do provide hand-sanitizing equipment to the drivers, cleaning supplies and disinfectants.”
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Pearce said RDN Transit buses are being disinfected daily and according to an RDN press release, should a passenger fall ill while riding a bus, standard protocol is to provide another bus for passengers and return the original bus to transit headquarters for cleaning and sanitizing.
The press release said additional hand-sanitizing units have been installed in regional district buildings. Custodial staff are cleaning daily and are using alcohol-based sanitizer and cleaning supplies on service counters.
As of Thursday evening, the RDN said recreation programs are continuing as scheduled.
The RDN will continue to follow instructions of health officials in relation to the pandemic, the press release said, and while the public health risk is currently low, that could change rapidly.
The RDN can be contacted at 250-390-4111, 1-877-607-4111 or by e-mailing inquiries@rdn.bc.ca.
More RDN information can be found on its Twitter account @RDNanaimo and on its website, www.rdn.bc.ca.