MBTA kicks cleaning into high gear

By Marie Szaniszlo & Richard Weir | Friday, May 1, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com

Photo by John Wilcox
Within hours of Vice President Joe Biden saying he had warned his family against taking subways, the MBTA announced yesterday it was ramping up cleaning on trains and buses to head off the spread of the potentially deadly swine flu virus.

“The MBTA has directed its cleaning crews to give special attention to places such as seats, hand rails on escalators and grab bars on subway cars and buses,” T General Manager Daniel Grabauskas said in an e-mail.

“People should not hesitate in going about their daily activities while also keeping themselves informed about how to stay healthy and protect themselves at: www.cdc.gov/flu/swine and www.mass.gov/dph,” Grabauskas added.

The announcement followed Biden’s remarks about advice he had given his family to avoid confined spaces such as planes and subways.

Dr. Alfred DeMaria, state epidemiologist, attempted to clarify any misconceptions the vice president’s comments may have caused, telling people: “If you are sick, don’t travel. There are no recommendations for people who are well to restrict their travel or quarantine themselves unless they are in direct contact with somebody with probable or confirmed swine flu. Then we are asking them to quarantine themselves because they could be incubating.”

Of the T’s extra cleaning details, DeMaria said, “The more clean the better.”

“I ride the train every day, and people are constantly coughing into their hands and touching the bar and touching the surfaces,” he said. “People need to know not to do that. People need to know that maybe when they get off the T to use alcohol rubbing gel if they can’t wash their hands right away.”

Rider reaction was mixed yesterday. “I’m scared,” Cassandra Delice, 32, of Malden said yesterday at Downtown Crossing. “I don’t have a car. I have to take the train to get to work.”

But others dismissed Biden’s warning about planes and subways as premature.

“Unless there’s extremely concrete evidence that public transit is dangerous to take, I don’t think he should cause a national spook. It’ll just deter people from going to school,” Mark Shanks of Leominister said on his way home from Newbury College.

“I’m not really worried,” Shanks, 18, added. “I’m pretty careful. I try to keep my distance from people. Nowadays, you have to.”

Sara Braganca, 26, of Jamaica Plain said: “I think it was irresponsible what he said. People shouldn’t stop their lives.”