Designated Bus Fleet Arrive Today to Care for COVID-19 Patients

The Transport & Housing Bureau will launch a designated bus fleet today to provide transportation to people who tested COVID-19 positive to community isolation facilities.

A spokesperson for the bureau has said that it has communicated with firms holding non-franchised buses and public light busses to designate a bus fleet of about 200 light and medium-sized buses.

“The move is to alleviate the demand pressure for the Fire Services Department’s (FSD) ambulance service and to facilitate early admission of people tested positive for COVID-19 but with no or mild symptoms to the community isolation facilities,” the spokesperson said.

When people test positive for COVID-19, they can be transferred to a community isolation facility. Rather than employing an ambulance to carry patients, the Fire Service Department will divert cases to the designated bus fleet to transport patients from their residences to the community isolation facilities.

Designated bus drivers must wear PPE gear, disinfect their bus every day, perform a daily rapid antigen test, and have a specific label affixed on their bus to identify them from other bus services.