President of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski, assures that the security of Varsovians is crucial for the city authorities, and has many questions to the government.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and head of the Ministry of Health Łukasz Szumowski said on Tuesday that, among others, from March 25 to April 11, 2020, public transport could be able to transport no more than half of the seats at the same time.
Rafał Trzaskowski referred emphasized that local government officials found out about the new restrictions to prevent the spread of coronavirus at 9 pm from the public government websites. He expressed surprise that there was no official way of communication.
“On what basis were we supposed to put them into practice? Information on the government website (which has changed several times during the day) and graphics on social media?,” he inquired.
He assessed that public transport orders specifying a specific number of people who could be in a vehicle require specific guidelines. As an example, he gave the recommendations of the Chief Sanitary Inspector who recommends introducing a permanent timetable.
“Since the government prohibits leaving homes, many buses will run even more empty. Others will remain overcrowded and yet we need to be able to react on a regular basis and adjust the distribution to the changing situation,” Trzaskowski argued.
In Trzaskowski's opinion, there are also significant doubts as to the practical side of implementing the new restrictions. He stressed that counting the passengers is actually impossible to conduct.
(PAP)