The department made several requests based on directions by central agencies and the provincial administration so as to stay ready to cope with the pandemic’s developments and prevent the coronavirus from spreading in the community. It demanded:
1. Providers of passenger transport services under contract
- Give recommendations on COVID-19 prevention and control to drivers and passengers of public transport vehicles.
- Not carry more than 10 people on each vehicle, ensure safe distance, carry out e-health declaration, and follow disease prevention procedures as guided by health agencies.
- Open vehicles’ windows while ensuring operational safety; not use air conditioners; request drivers, conductors and passengers to wear face masks compulsorily; and disinfect vehicles before and after carrying passengers.
2. Passenger transport routes be suspende
- Suspend the fixed passenger transport routes that link Hoa Binh with coach stations of the provinces and cities with COVID-19 cases (as of March 29) from 00:00 of March 31 through April 15.
- Suspend bus route No. 05 that connects the province’s Binh An coach station with Hanoi’s Yen Nghia coach station from 00:00 of March 31 through April 15.
- Suspend bus route No. 02, Hoa Binh – Ha Nam, from 00:00 of March 31 through April 15.
- Suspend passenger transport activities of inland waterways vessels, inland waterways ports and terminals across the province from 00:00 of March 31 through April 15.
3. Frequency on transport routes be reduced
Providers of passenger transport services on fixed routes and by bus that are not subject to Section 2 reduce the number of trips by at least 50 percent or temporarily stop their activities until further notice.
4. Providers of passenger transport services by taxi or coaches operating on contracts (including those carrying employees of businesses and organisations)
Not carry passengers from Hoa Binh to the provinces and cities with COVID-19 patients and vice versa.
5. Management units of local coach stations
- Order local coach stations to suspend activities of service providing establishments at the stations, prevent crowds of 10 people or more; not handle passenger transport vehicles that run on fixed routes from the provinces and cities with COVID-19 patients to Hoa Binh, report violations to traffic inspectors and other relevant forces so as to deal with organisations and individuals who intentionally commit wrongdoings.
- Deploy staff to coach stations’ gates to disseminate information, carry out disease prevention and control measures, check body temperature, guide passengers through filling in e-health declarations; not let more than 10 passengers stay at a coach waiting room at the same time, and ensure the minimum distance of 2 metres between two people.
- Monitor the reduction of passenger transport services on fixed routes; publicise this document’s content and the list of the fixed inter-provincial passenger transport routes linking Hoa Binh with the localities with COVID-19 patients that have been suspended at convenient places of the management units’ headquarters.
- If they detect vehicles carrying passengers from the localities with COVID-19 patients, they have to notify the Health Department and relevant forces to implement disease prevention measures for those vehicles and passengers on board.
- The head of the Hoa Binh central coach station is held accountable to the Transport Department Director for any vehicles of the suspended routes committing violations.
- The management units of coach stations of district-level localities are held accountable to the chairpersons of those localities’ People’s Committees for any vehicles of the suspended routes committing violations.
6. The transport departments of the provinces of Bac Giang, Bac Ninh, Quang Ninh, Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa, Thai Nguyen, Hai Duong, Vinh Phuc, Ha Nam and Lao Cai, and Hanoi city:
- Request their localities’ providers of passenger transport services on fixed routes to Hoa Binh to suspend the operation of those routes in accordance with this document’s content.
- Coordinate with the Hoa Binh Department of Transport in examining the suspension of the routes and proposing the settlement of those committing violations./.