Commuters call for stronger preventive measures against Coronavirus in public transport

In the public transport sector, concerns have been raised over the risks associated with contracting the Coronavirus on things like buses, if an outbreak were to occur here in Rwanda.

Officials at the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority say directives have been given to Transportation Companies pertaining to such matters and they must be followed. Please note that no cases of the Coronavirus have been found within Rwanda's borders so far.

The concerns have been raised by passengers on buses who say that the way people shove each other around when boarding buses and the sheer numbers squeezed into them means fresh infections of the Coronavirus would be inevitable if a person with the virus was to board one of them, especially with the fact that people do not wash their hands before they board.

Also, those who use taxi motorcycles say they dread having to wear helmets because they do not know who used them prior. 

The costs of buying hand sanitizers are said to be quite high, but officials at the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) say this should really not be an issue.

Tony Kulamba, RURA's General Manager for Transport said: "This problem concerns us all as Rwandans, and particularly those in the Transportation Sector, we should all play our part so that there is cleanliness. People may say the necessities for this are expensive, well they cannot be more expensive than your life and others on your bus, because that one person with the infection can make many other people sick. All people therefore, both individuals and those in public transport should be careful to follow the guidelines in the Government announcement."

The RURA Officials also say overcrowding on buses should not be problem if people respect hygiene guidelines; but that bigger buses will soon arrive that have adequate spaces to avoid overcrowding.