Coronavirus' relationship with public transit highlighted in latest Huffman town hall

NORTH COAST, Calif. — The novel coronavirus' complex relationship with public transportation was highlighted in the latest virtual town hall hosted by North Coast Rep. Jared Huffman Monday evening.

Huffman answered questions and addressed concerns on a number of COVID-19 related topics alongside his three guests, all of whom were from Humboldt County - Health Officer Dr. Teresa Frankovich, North Coast Small Business Development Center Director Leila Roberts and Redwood Region Economic Development Commission Executive Director Gregg Foster.

North Coast News asked the congressman asked if riding public buses was contributing to the spread of COVID-19 and if so, what can be done about it.

"I will tell you what cannot be done about it, and that's to shut off public transit," Huffman said.

Officials say the virus has a complex relationship with public transportation. While health officials say it is likely to be an area where people are at an increased risk to exposure, it's also an essential service those who are still allowed to work rely on.

"We have essential workers who depend on public transit to get around," Huffman said. "They are hurt just as hard, and in some cases, they're asked to take great risks, so I think we should go the extra mile to make transit safe."

Dr. Frankovich said there are still ways you can stay safe when using public transit, though.

"I think the measures on, for instance, buses are the recommendations we're seeing diffusely, which are social distancing with seating, lower total passenger loads, ventilation and signage about passenger behavior," she said.

Air travel was also discussed.

"Recreational air travel, this is not the time for that," Dr. Frankovich said. "But what we recognize is that air travel allows, for instance, some of our very critical workers to come in and out of the area."

But what about sanitation? Can people trust commonly touched surfaces on both buses and airplanes?

"Ask on transit if there is frequent cleaning," Dr. Frankovich said. "We're also asking individuals of course to increase their frequency of hand-washing or using hand sanitizer to help protect themselves."

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