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RTA rallies additional resources to clean trains every 24 hours in addition to buses

Kevin Barry

At the start of the pandemic, RTA rolled out additional resources to clean stations, Rapid lines, and buses much more often.

By: Camryn Justice

Posted

and last updated

CLEVELAND — The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) is allocating additional resources in order to clean the trains every 24 hours amid increased coronavirus concerns.

Last week, RTA announced its enhanced cleaning protocol in response to concerns over the spread of novel coronavirus, COVID-19, stating it would clean all touchable surfaces with a cleaning agent recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The original protocol planned to have buses cleaned every 24 hours, and has since included trains to be cleaned at the same frequency using the additional allocated resources.

“We want our riders to know that we will clean every bus, and now every train, every day and that it’s safe to ride RTA. We've had very positive feedback from riders as we've prioritized our mission to provide safe, reliable, clean and courteous public transportation. With the public’s concern of the spread of this virus, we’re pleased to announce that we’re taking this additional step with both rail and bus,” said RTA CEO and General Manager India Birdsong.

The daily cleanings began Monday morning.

There have been no confirmed cases of coronavirus COVID-19 in Ohio.

Additional Coronavirus information and resources:

COVID-19/2019 Novel Coronavirus Overview from the CDC:

“2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV/COVID-19) is a virus (more specifically, a coronavirus) identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China. At this time, it’s unclear how easily or sustainably this virus is spreading between people. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are common in many different species of animals, including camels, cattle, cats, and bats. Rarely, animal coronaviruses can infect people and then spread between people such as with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).”

“When person-to-person spread has occurred with MERS and SARS, it is thought to have happened mainly via respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, similar to how influenza and other respiratory pathogens spread. Spread of MERS and SARS between people has generally occurred between close contacts.”

From News 5 and affiliated news outlets:

News 5's Coronavirus continuing coverage page

How to prepare your family and pets for COVID-19

EPA releases list of approved disinfectants to use against COVID-19

How to protect yourself from coronavirus when flying

Symptoms

The symptoms of coronavirus are fever and lower respiratory tract issues, such as cough and shortness of breath, according to the Cuyahoga County Board of Health.

Travel

Anyone traveling internationally should review plans in advance of their trip, and check the CDC’s COVID-19 Travel Information Page for daily updates and travel alerts.

Click here for the CDC COVID-19 Travel Information Page

Practice Good Hygiene

The CCBH recommends the following good hygiene practices to prevent coronavirus, as well as the flu, colds and other illnesses:

Sneeze or cough into the bend of your elbow to keep germs from spreading
Regularly wash your hands with soap and water/use alcohol-based hand sanitizer in between
Don’t share cups, spoons, forks, etc. with anyone
Additional Resources
Don’t go to work or school if you are sick
Cuyahoga County: See the CCBH page on coronavirus here.

Ohio Department of Health:

Click here for the Ohio Department of Health’s Coronavirus information page.

It is updated daily at 2 p.m. with the current number of confirmed cases, persons under investigation and persons under investigation who tested negative for the disease.

As of Thursday afternoon, there are zero confirmed cases in Ohio, three persons under investigation in Ohio, seven persons who have tested negative for COVID-19, and a total of 255 people who were or are under health supervision since the novel coronavirus was first reported.

More resources from ODH:

Fact sheet
Prevention infographic
Resources and information

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The CCBH has created this list of coronavirus-related resources from the CDC:

Homepage for COVID-19 materials and information

Fact sheet
Prevention infographic
Fact sheet – Spanish

Guidance for businesses
Guidance for colleges and universities
Guidance for communities and mass gatherings
Guidance for healthcare facilities
Guidance for healthcare professionals
Guidance for people with elevated risk for illness
Guidance for pregnant women
Guidance for risk assessment
Guidance for schools
Guidance for travelers
Guidance for businesses
What you can do to stop the spread of COVID-19 – Chinese
What you can do to stop the spread of COVID-19 – English
What you can do to stop the spread of COVID-19 – Spanish
Guidance for healthcare professionals
If you are sick with COVID-19 – Chinese
If you are sick with COVID-19 – English
If you are sick with COVID-19 – Spanish
Guidance for schools
Preventing spread of COVID-19 at election/polling/voting locations
Prevention and treatment
Symptoms – overview
What you can do to stop the spread of COVID-19 – English
World Health Organization