First Bus confirms Larbert depot coronavirus outbreak

First Bus has confirmed that eight staff members have tested positive for coronavirus at its Larbert depot.
First Bus confirms Larbert depot coronavirus outbreakFirst Bus confirms Larbert depot coronavirus outbreak
First Bus confirms Larbert depot coronavirus outbreak

The BBC reported that a spokesperson for the company said that there was “no evidence of a link between cases".

With roughly 300 staff at the depot, additional measures have been introduced to help prevent the further spread of the virus.

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Staff who were in contact with the individuals who tested positive are self-isolating with full pay.

David Phillips, operations director for First Midland, said: "We currently have eight of our colleagues at our First Midland Larbert depot with confirmed cases of Covid.

"The safety of our staff and customers is our number one priority and since these cases were identified, we have taken all necessary steps to minimise the risk of a spread of the infection.

"We are no different to any other business across the country as the pandemic has once again seen a general spike in cases across the country in recent weeks.”He added: “I can confirm that as of Tuesday evening, we currently have eight of our colleagues at our First Midland Larbert depot with confirmed cases of Covid 19.

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“We have reported this to the NHS Forth Valley Public Health department as part of Health Protection Scotland’s protocols.

“We are fully supporting our colleagues and wish them a speedy recovery. We also have a number of other colleagues self-isolating due to our close contact tracing procedures.

“We are no different to any other business across the country as the global pandemic has once again seen a general spike in cases across the country in recent weeks.

“The safety of our staff and customers is our number one priority and since these cases were identified, we have conducted a full review to ensure we have taken all necessary steps to minimise the risk of a spread of the infection with the mitigations we have in place.

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“We have been in full contact throughout with our Unite the Union representatives locally who have been in full agreement with the steps we have taken to ensure the safety of our colleagues.

“We have a signed collective agreement with Unite that provides 80% of basic pay for employees who are off work in connection with Covid-19.”

This news comes just after First Bus confirmed that a number of staff at it’s Bannockburn depot had tested positive for Covid-19.

Despite the positive cases, both the Bannockburn and Larbert depot are scheduled to remain open and the situation will be monitored.

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All positive cases of coronavirus within the company have been reported to NHS Forth Valley.

Mr Phillips added: "

“We are not reducing services at the moment, but we will certainly need to consider this if there are any further cases identified in the coming days in order to cope with the demands of keeping services running for key workers and essential journeys.

“There are currently no plans to close the depot given these mitigating factors we have put in place to ensure the safety of our staff and customers and the number of employees currently affected is less than 3% of the entire workforce at our Larbert site.”

“I would like to pay tribute to the whole team, who continue to work hard, and especially our fantastic staff out there on the frontline who are providing a lifeline to allow our key workers to move about safely.”

e country."

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