Tshwane bus services suspended due to Covid-19, again
It was still unclear by Monday morning when Tshwane bus services (TBS) would be back in operation, following newly reported positive Covid-19 cases.
The metro announced the temporary suspension of its TBS operations and closure of bus depots on Friday.
In a statement, the metro said two more TBS employees had tested positive in the past seven days, bringing the total number of confirmed positive cases to three.
“As a result of this, a decision was taken by the city of Tshwane occupational health (OH) clinic to do a risk assessment to decide who needed to be tested among the employees affected by exposure to the Covid-positive personnel.
A total of 193 employees who were in contact with the reported positive cases were identified and sent for testing.
The outcome of the test results may take up to seven days, according to metro spokesperson Selby Bokaba.
“Furthermore, employees were asked to self-quarantine while they are waiting for their results at home,” Bokaba said.
He said education and counselling were done by nursing practitioners to help ease affected employees’ anxiety.
The metro said the affected bus depots and buses would be disinfected during the closure of operations.
“The depots would reopen for business and bus operations resume after the disinfection process would be completed. All tested personnel are cleared or completed the self-isolation process.”
Tshwane head administrator Mpho Nawa expressed concern over at the latest suspension of bus operations.
“This was the most difficult decision to make within such a short space of time. At the end of the day, we needed to strike a balance between the lives of our people and livelihoods, and we opted for safety first.
“We wish to profusely apologise, once more, to our commuters for the inconvenience they have to endure. However, lives matter more than revenue loss to the metro,” Nawa said.
On 26 June, three TBS depots were temporarily closed and bus operations suspended after a bus driver tested positive for Covid-19.
The depots reopened and bus operations resumed on Tuesday, 30 June.
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