Coronavirus: service cuts loom for Hong Kong’s MTR Corporation after 100 employees get Covid-19 in past week, union warns of crisis
- Rail giant’s Covid-19 tally over past week hits 100, with unknown number of employees also quarantined as close contacts
- Union vice-chairman says infections and isolation of staff will ‘impact the stable supply of rail service’
The operator on Saturday said it had recorded 51 preliminary-positive infections among staff, including contract workers, with 31 testing positive via rapid antigen kits. The number of infections among its workers was at the highest level since the pandemic started in 2020.
The company’s Covid-19 tally over the past week had hit 100, of which 17 were train drivers, with the rest comprising station staff, maintenance workers and seven cleaning staff.
An unknown number of employees were also placed in quarantine after being listed as close contacts. The MTR Corp employs about 3,000 drivers.
The rail firm said it would not rule out reducing services if the situation continued to worsen, as other close contacts of the infected cases would also need to be isolated, creating a knock-on effect on manpower.
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“If the situation worsens and affects manpower arrangements for daily operations, the corporation may temporarily adjust services, for example, adjusting train timings and closing customer service centres at some stations.”
The operator also said it would tell the public of any such changes through appropriate channels.
It added that on top of existing protective equipment such as masks provided to staff, from Monday, all employees would also wear face shields to guard against infection.
The MTR Corp stressed it had “continuously and comprehensively” stepped up cleaning and disinfection of stations and trains.
“The MTR is firmly committed to keeping Hong Kong moving and will continue to implement extensive measures to safeguard the health and hygiene of customers and staff, while working together with the city to fight the pandemic,” it said.
The rail giant has recently reduced the daily frequency of trains after 8pm, saying its ridership during the evening off-peak hours had dropped 40 per cent compared with December 2021, amid the explosive Covid-19 fifth wave.
Hong Kong Federation of Railway Trade Unions vice-chairman Tam Kin-chiu said he had started to feel a sense of crisis over the supply of train services following the cases among drivers.
“With an increasing number of train drivers getting infected, other close contacts of the drivers have also been put in home isolation for a period of time with compulsory testing. This will impact the stable supply of rail service,” he said.
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“I am really worried that the MTR service will be affected amid the exponential growth in infections in the community. The MTR Corp really needs to enhance its preventive measures to reduce the risks of infections among rail staff, especially drivers.”
Tam said the rail giant needed to consider whether it should push staff to undergo more rapid antigen tests, adding that further train services might be cut if Hong Kong conducted universal testing.
Joe Wong Nai-yuen, chairman of the Cleaning Service Industry Workers Union, said he was concerned about the welfare of contract cleaners at the MTR Corp.
“Under the outsourcing system, the contractor will deduct cleaning workers’ salaries if they take sick leave. Many cleaners fall sick but still force themselves to work at MTR stations,” he said.
“This will increase infection risks among cleaners and other staff, as well as passengers. The MTR Corp needs to address this problem and ensure that cleaning workers can get paid even if they take sick leave.”
