In its latest step to support the health of employees and customers, Metro will begin distributing washable, reusable cloth facemasks to frontline staff beginning Saturday, April 11. Metro also is encouraging members of the public to wear face coverings when riding public transit to help limit the spread of novel coronavirus.
These steps follow the recent recommendation from health officials that people wear cloth face coverings when they are in public settings where they cannot maintain six feet of distance from others.
Wearing a face covering of any kind will be voluntary—for drivers and riders. Some drivers already have adopted the habit of wearing their own face coverings while they continue to move essential workers and passengers reliant on transit for access to food and medicine.
Metro will distribute two masks to each of the 4,100 identified frontline workers—one for wearing and one for washing. These face coverings are not intended to replace other safety measures to limit the spread of the virus.
Maintaining six feet of physical distance from non-household members and performing frequent hand hygiene with soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer are the most important ways to protect yourself from COVID-19.
What can the mask do? The cloth reusable mask issued to Metro frontline staff is able to reduce exposure to dust, allergens, germs, and bodily fluids, and helps the user comply with CDC guidance. However, the mask is not a respirator and will not eliminate the risk of contracting disease or infection. The primary benefit of wearing a face covering is not to the wearer, but to others. Wearing a mask complements and does not replace other guidance related to personal hygiene, which remain the cornerstone of slowing the spread of COVID-19.
Metro will continue to disinfect buses and other transit vehicles daily, and disinfect high-touch areas of bases and work sites twice daily.
Additional Resources
- King County Metro Transit
- Public Health
- Other King County services
We all need the mask to go to work and protect ourselves. I find a grear mask, wanna share this comfortable disposable face mask for your guys. Come with me. disposable face mask
They won’t bother to do more to protect drivers until one or two die from the negligence. Maybe not even then. Even Pierce Transit has limited the number of passengers allowed – the maximum should be far fewer, though. On many routes most trips appear to be non-essential. I think it’s safe to say when they get off at the terminal and stand around waiting to get back on, it was not essential. And groups of young people aren’t going to and from work or the grocery store for critical groceries while they party in the back. As the weather warms up, many routes are looking like average Summer days – packed to standing room only. Only a few passengers wear masks and many are yelling and talking loudly which amounts to spraying droplets that are propelled up toward the driver. The air flow on these buses always moves up to the driver. Those mythical security barriers could come in handy about now. At least when people jump the barrier to come up and chat, they wouldn’t be able to get within 12″ of the drivers’ faces to ask a question they could have asked from the back. At least a piece of plexiglass would prevent some direct droplet spray getting into the drivers’ lungs and eyes and nose.
Why not have the vans take the ADA folks? You’d think they’d want to avoid the risks of contracting this. People need to realize that the air is not being cleaned – 3 microns? Go look up how tiny the aeresolized virus is. This is not just a bad flu – go look up the descriptions of all the weird symptoms and strange damage done to kidneys, lungs, etc before any symptoms show.
Applause and thanks mean nothing to a dead person.
“However, the mask is not a respirator and will not eliminate the risk of contracting disease or infection. The primary benefit of wearing a face covering is not to the wearer”
I feel like I’m taking crazy pills! This is it? This is not what we wanted or asked for. That money would have been better spent ordering pizza for all the metro/union peeps working from home because sounds like I would’ve been just as safe if that was the case.
Velcro strap, airborne.
Gloves, Airborne. ( they only give u 5 pairs they are contaminated quickly)
Hand, sanitizer airborne.
Useless mask, airborne.
I think we get 5 wipes a day to disinfect.
Strap in ada passenger inches away from them, airborne.
Help blind and draw on hand, Airborne.
It’s circulating through the bus during your 10-12 hour shift. People can’t gather in groups larger than 10 unless you’re on the 106 or the 60 than you can get 15+ peeps no problem there is a overhead message that stops the virus. Metro coaches are infected hourly and cleaned when out of service. Seattle I’m a first responder and king county is giving me two cloth masks that don’t protect me. Heck Costco is letting first responders skip the line except not because they didn’t view a bus driver as a first responder. I’m salty af rn. That is iy. Have a great night all and be safe.