Peru. Cruz del Sur is a recognized passenger transport company in Peru that will restart interprovincial passenger operations in the middle of this month, as announced by the minister of the sector, for which, in principle, it will apply the same high standards of prevention and bio security that has already been operating in the transport of personnel, complying with the demands of its customers in large mining, as well as all the protocols established by the competent authorities.
For this restart of operations Cruz del Sur has focused its research and development on mitigating the risk of contagion during the journey of a land trip and although throughout its fleet it operates a system that allows changing the air of the passenger cabin every 3 minutes, it has sought technology that allows mitigating the risk of contagion even within those 3 minutes in which the air circulates inside the cabin.
In partnership with the bus manufacturing company Marcopolo, a system of disinfection of the air of the passenger cabin has been developed, through the application of ultraviolet (UV) light on the flow of the incoming air, with which they explain that it allows to eliminate 99.9% of a set of viruses and bacteria more resistant than Covid 19, even those belonging to the SARS-CoV-2 family, known as Coronavirus.
The UVC lamps will be installed at six different points, within the return ducts of the air conditioning in all the units of Cruz del Sur, so that completely disinfected air will constantly enter the passenger cabin, which in turn is changed every 3 minutes.
Marcopolo do Brasil, picked up this initiative and has developed its own research with the University of Caxias do Sul, which confirmed other scientific research that in turn has demonstrated the effectiveness of UV rays to destroy 99.9% of bacteria and viruses more resistant than coronaviruses, therefore affirms the importance of the application of UV rays to promote biosafety in passenger transport in the context of this pandemic.
However, the application of UV rays must respond to technical design criteria to avoid direct or indirect exposure of people to this type of radiation, so Marcopolo du Brasil has developed the design of this solution that is already incorporated into its manufacturing process and that will be installed throughout the Cruz del Sur fleet.
Preventive health measures
• The staff will fill out a symptom booklet, their temperature will be taken and they will be disinfected at the entrance of the facilities. In addition, there will be periodic disinfection of terminals, buses, agencies and plant as well as each member of the staff taking care of the use of masks and hygiene. Social distancing of 1.5m or more will be maintained. The capacity in all spaces will be reduced and the biosecurity protocol will be permanently communicated.
• In the same way, the pilots will use the symptomatology card, their temperature will be measured and footwear and hand disinfection will be done. Passengers on board will wear a mask on a mandatory basis and an affidavit of health is also being evaluated, as well as temperature measurement before entering the terminal.
"Cruz del Sur ratifies its commitment and responsibility to Peruvians at this time of national health emergency. With the implementation of this UV device we seek to provide a service that has as a priority the health of our passengers. Our starting point is health," said Luis Ramirez, managing director of Cruz del Sur.
