Check daladalas on Coronavirus fight
The feared corona virus is finally at Tanzania doorsteps, with Kenya, Rwanda and DR Congo having announced their first victims. The worldwide death toll has reached 6,036, with 159,844 infections by Sunday afternoon figures.
Many major economies have slow downed and the aviation sector crippled after flights were grounded and more and more countries impose travel bans.
To say that the fact that the virus has reached neighbouring countries is cause for alarm is an understatement. Luckily enough the government has taken several measures to prepare the country for the pandemic. One measure that we would like measures being taken immediately regards public transport in the city; commuter trains and buses.
It is time that the authorities required bus and train operators to spray disinfectants to the buses as part of efforts to prevent the diseases from coming in and spreading. It is now standard practice in cities in many countries. The other issue is the overcrowding inside the buses. The situation is serious during peak hours. It is worse in the Rapid Bus Transit system buses and in the daladalas in some routes.
The government should step up in this and oblige operators to increases the buses during the peak hours. One way of doing this in the daladala routes is allow private bus owners put on vehicles in the mornings and evenings to reduce the overcrowding inside the buses, which would pose one of the most serious challenge in the fight against coronavirus.
