Bus Driver Listed Among New Covid Suspects

There’ve been more reports of workers in different industries coming down with the coronavirus, with a public bus driver and a journalist joining the list of probable victims as the latest wave of Covid-19 continued to spread in the city.

New World First Bus (NWFB) said a preliminary test taken by one of their drivers came back positive and 18 of his colleagues are now awaiting their test results, while sources said an editor of the Economic Times newspaper is suspected to have the virus.

NWFB said the driver who tested positive worked on route number 23, travelling between North Point and Kennedy Town, and he had last worked on Tuesday.

The driver had worn masks while on duty before he developed symptoms on his day off on Wednesday. The operator said it had disinfected four buses the driver had worked on.

The chairman of the New World First Bus Company Staff Union, Lam Kam-piu, confirmed that about 18 people who had been in contact with the driver have been tested, and NWFB has arranged for them to take some time off while they wait for the test results.

Lam said the driver in question lived in the Sha Tin district, and doesn't know where he may have caught the virus.

Lam said his union had previously asked NWFB to install plastic barriers inside buses to protect drivers and passengers, but the company didn't respond. He says he and his colleagues will buy goggles to protect themselves.

Meanwhile sources said all staff who worked on the same floor as the Economic Times editor have been arranged to work from home.