Mayor Valerie Plante announced today that Montreal’s metro and buses will be cleaned daily to help in the fight against the COVID-19 virus. STM employees will also be given disinfectant wipes in order to keep their stations clean.This comes after a woman who was recently diagnosed with the virus had used the system after returning home from a cruise. STM officials also recently disclosed the underground network is only fully cleaned every five to six weeks – with a ‘partial interior washing of the Metro car floors carried out approximately every three days for the entire fleet’. Last week they said they would begin disinfecting the handles and tripods in the metro cars at least once a week.
Last Friday, a microbiology teacher at Ahuntsic College, had gone into the system and said he ‘found so much bacteria that it was impossible to count under a microscope’. He also found traces of pathogens, which could lead to different skin diseases and numerous fungal infections. Mayor Plante also stated that the city is following recommendations from the public health authorities, local and federal – and they ‘are ready and have it under control’.
