All swab tests at Kent railway stations for Covid-19 negative
06:00, 05 August 2020
updated: 17:09, 05 August 2020
Swab tests for Covid-19 across stations in Kent have all came back negative, according to a train company that runs services in the county.
It comes as bosses at Southeastern say they have ramped up cleaning regimes and has completed the first phase of swabbing.
Alicia Andrews is the commercial director at Southeastern
They were carried out at "high touch points" at five key commuter stations including Ashford International, Chatham, Lewisham, Sevenoaks and Strood.
All results came back negative with no traces of Covid-19 having been tested in a laboratory.
These tests will now be rolled out across all Southeastern stations for "ongoing reassurance".
In a bid to protect passengers, the train company has been using a cleaning product called Zoono, which claims to give up to 30 days protection against the virus.
The product is applied to surfaces by spraying, wiping or "fogging".
Every train carriage will be sanitised each night to apply anti-viral treatments to "high touch areas" such as toilets, handles and buttons, as well as in the driving cabs.
Bosses at the firm are also working to introduce a raft of measures, including more trains and carriages, vending machines for face coverings and hand sanitiser, and fog cleaning on trains.
They will also hire more than 30 extra members of the cleaning team to work on trains across 20 of its busiest stations.
Passenger services director David Wornham said encouraged passengers to plan their journey ahead, travel at quiter times and register for a contactless ticket.
“We are doing everything we can to help our passengers feel safe and supported when returning to travelling by train on our network, and we’re really pleased with the results of our cleaning testing so far," he said.
"During August, passengers will see a visible increase in cleaning staff across the network."
