Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) is to impose tighter disease control measures in anticipation of a spike in passengers during the Tomb Sweeping Festival next month, it said on Friday.
The Tomb Sweeping Festival, which this year falls on April 2 to April 5, is dedicated to remembering ancestors by sweeping their graves and paying them respect.
Three infrared thermometers were installed on Thursday at the Taipei high-speed station after introducing two at Taoyuan last week, the company said, adding that the measures would better prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The company said that it would complete similar installations at the Taichung and Zuoying stations before the holiday, and that passengers with a temperature above 37.5°C would receive a ticket refund.
All 12 high-speed rail stations would be equipped with infrared thermometers by the end of April, the company said.
From March 16, carriages are to be disinfected whenever a train concludes its run and arrives at the terminal station, it said, adding that the carriages are currently only cleaned once per day.
Another measure being taken is to sell only reserved seats during the six days of the holiday so that there is no overcrowding, the company said, people with nonreserved tickets stand too close to each other when no seats are available, which could facilitate spreading the virus.
Also, no passes, multi-ride tickets or smart cards such as EasyCard and iPASS cobranded cards, would be accepted, the company said.
Offering about 180,000 rides per day, the company said that stations from last week are disinfected every two hours, instead of every four hours.
The company from midnight yesterday started selling tickets for the Tomb Sweeping Festival, it said, adding that an extra 190 runs are being added to the schedule for a total of 1,056.
As the nation prepares to observe the tomb-sweeping traditions next month, experts on folk customs have encouraged people to avoid going to columbaria, repositories for urns containing cremated remains, and cemeteries to avoid contracting the coronavirus.
People could consider cleaning tombs at a later time, folk custom expert Lin Cheng-yi (林正義) said.
The real purpose of observing the traditions is for people to remember their ancestors, who passed down genes to offspring, he added.
People’s ancestors would want them to stay out of harm’s way, he said, adding that rather than focusing on the ritual performed, people should consider what the ritual means and avoid exposing themselves to the virus.
Additional reporting by Yang Mien-chieh
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