Covid-19 tests for MSRTC buses to check for traces of virus in most frequently touched places

MSRTC will randomly choose five bus depots for the sample collection. File/Ashish Raje

Days after it started applying anti-microbial coatings on its buses, the MSRTC plans to check the effectiveness of the chemical. It will now collect samples from "common touch areas" on its vehicles. The coating is supposed to reduce the spread of germs, including Covid strains. The undertaking has a fleet of about 18,000 buses and has decided to get the chemical coat applied on 10,000 of them. Under its efficacy testing move, perhaps a first for a public transporter in the country, the lab will collect 9,000 swabs in a year, said officials.

"We intend to check the effectiveness of the anti-microbial coating. Hence, we are appointing a laboratory that will collect and test swabs from buses with anti-microbial coating to verify the presence of traces of H1N1 or SARS or influenza viruses from the Corona family," said a senior MSRTC official. With the coating, MSRTC is trying to make its bus surfaces free of microbes. If successful, it plans to run buses with 100 per cent capacity.

Also read: No money for diesel, Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation staff told to take leave,; salaries delayed

The testing

MSRTC has 31 divisions and 250 bus depots across the state. It will randomly select five buses from each division and inform the lab, which will collect the swabs within seven days. A total of ten samples will be collected from each bus from "common touch areas" like passenger door handle, frame rod, grab handle/grab rail, stanchion bar, arm rest (hand rest), guard rail on windows, driver steering wheel, passenger seat, passenger backrest and rack.

A health worker takes a swab sample of a passenger at an MSRTC bus stand at Borivli. File pic

An elaborate process has also been listed on the guidelines for collecting the swabs to ensure that sufficient sample size is collected and in case a test report is challenged, the MSRTC should be able to retest it.

mid-day had earlier reported that the MSRTC had initiated the process of applying an anti-microbial coating to its buses three months ago, on the basis of test reports from Haffkine Institute of Training, Research & Testing.

How the coating works

The coating prevents the growth of disease-causing microbes on surfaces and is required to be applied every few months or depending on the usage. Officials said that multiple passengers touch many common areas of a bus and they become ground for transfer of germs including the one causing Covid. The MSRTC will spend Rs 9,000 per bus for the coating.

9,000
No. of samples to be collected from MSRTC buses

Rs 9,000
Cost of chemical coating for each bus