Commuters told buses remain safe after positive tests

FIRST Bus workers were s e n t h ome a f t e r coronavirus cases were identified at a depot. A source – who wished to remain anonymous – said that a number of engineers at the Caledonia depot on Cathcart Road and a number of drivers at the Blantyre depot had been told to self- isolate.

First Bus confirmed that cases had been linked to depots in Blantyre and Glasgow.

It is understood that 10 or fewer workers tested positive in Blantyre and an unspecified number were identified as close contacts and were told to self- isolate.

Duncan Cameron, the operations director for First Glasgow, stressed that bus travel is still safe.

He added: “I can confirm that First Glasgow have a small number of colleagues that are confirmed cases of Covid- 19 from our Blantyre depot in the past week. We are fully supporting our colleagues through this and wish them a speedy recovery.

“Anyone who has any symptoms whatsoever is advised to follow government advice and self- isolate and we have a number of colleagues at some of our sites who are isolating due to Covid symptoms. We are no different to any other business in the wider Lanarkshire area in particular, which has seen a spike in cases in recent weeks across the whole population.

“The safety of our staff and customers is our number one priority and since these cases were identified, we have conducted a full review to ensure we have taken all necessary steps to minimise the risk of a spread of the infection and the mitigations we have in place have ensured that these small number of cases have not happened as a result of workplace transmission.

“All of our depots are Covidsafe sites and the necessary mitigations and procedures are in place as per the latest Scottish Government advice and in- line with the NHS Scotland Test and Protect tracking system, which we have actively promoted to our team to download.

“At the outset of the pandemic we had already stepped up our cleaning regimes to include additional vehicle cleans and regular disinfection of all grab rails and poles on buses, the entrance door handles, window ledges and other places that people touch on our vehicles.

“All of our staff premises get daily deep cleans as well as our normal cleaning procedures.

“I would like to pay tribute to the whole team, who continue to work hard, and especially our fantastic driving staff out there on the frontline, who are providing a lifeline to allow our key workers to move about safely.

“We would also like to assure the public that travelling on our buses is safe and we have a number of safety measures and enhanced cleans in place, including anti- viral fogging to ensure their safety at all times when using our services.”