Analysis: staying coronavirus safe on trains, planes and automobiles

Many of us rely on public transport to get to work, school, and to meet friends and family. But in the time of Covid-19, Dr Lena Ciric (UCL Civil, Environmental & Geomatic Engineering) asks: is it safe to use these vehicles and is there a difference between them? Transport has contributed to the spread of coronavirus - locally, regionally and internationally. Despite various measures for passenger screening, quarantine after travel and border control, infected people have still managed to travel - knowingly or unknowingly. We now know that quite a large proportion of people who are infected show no symptoms of Covid-19 and that people are infectious before they show symptoms. But has transmission of the virus occurred on public transport vehicles? There is very little good scientific evidence on the transmission of infectious disease on public transport vehicles. This is because linking a transmission event to a specific journey is notoriously difficult, as there are so many factors at play. Scientists around the world are trying to unpick the complex interactions between people and the environment that might lead to transmission.