coronavirus, coronavirus, covid-19, coronavirus canberra, coronavirus act, covid-19 canberra, covid-19 act, coronavirus cleaners

For the past 20 years, Miles Kemp has been an integral part of the ACT's public bus network cleaning crew, but until this week he was a man many in the community didn't think twice about. Transport Canberra's team of cleaners have ramped up their schedules to respond to COVID-19 and to help protect the community as the virus sweeps through Australia. In a post on Transport Canberra's Facebook page, Mr Kemp's face proudly shone a light on the hard work of cleaners in these trying times. The public responses to the Facebook post were - mostly - heartwarming. "Thumbs up to this awesome bloke who is cleaning potentially infected surfaces so people can travel safely," one poster said. "Thank you! Many of us need to use public transport," said another. Transport Minister Chris Steel announced earlier this week cleaning measures would increase to twice a day on public transport, and Canberrans were asked to avoid the bus and light rail at peak times to curb the spread of the virus. "The work of our cleaners has never been more important and more appreciated by the community as we seek to keep Canberrans healthy," Mr Steel said. "What we're seeing is everyday Canberrans like Miles stepping up and getting on with the work that supports our community to function during this pandemic." READ MORE: Mr Kemp said while he's always taken pride in his work, his job has become increasingly important in light of the pandemic. "My job has taken on greater importance now," Mr Kemp told the Sunday Canberra Times. "I still enjoy my work and enjoy working hard even if it sometimes makes me tired. I like making people happy." Mr Kemp became a cleaner in 1998, but has worked for ACTION - now Transport Canberra - for about 40 years. Prior to cleaning, he was performing fare box clearance tasks on the buses when they mostly took cash fares. He also worked in administration at the Belconnnen, Woden and Kingston depots before moving to the Tuggeranong depot. "I decided to become a cleaner because I thought that I would enjoy it," Mr Kemp explained. "After doing it, I found that it kept me busy and the time spent at work goes fast." He said there are things he likes and dislikes about the job. Cleaning chewing gum off the seats is definitely a dislike. While he's doing much of the same as he was pre-virus, there is a greater focus on cleaning the entire interior of the bus and on being safe while doing so. "[We have to] take some other precautions like wearing protective gloves and washing our hands more regularly," he said. He said outside of work, washing his hands more regularly was something he was focusing on too. In addition to that, Mr Kemp had one more piece of advice for Canberrans. "I think that people should keep calm and take care," he said. We have removed our paywall from our stories about the coronavirus. This is a rapidly changing situation and we want to make sure our readers are as informed as possible. If you're looking to stay up to date on COVID-19, you can also sign up for our twice-daily digest here. If you would like to support our journalists you can subscribe here.

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