Metro says it is preparing for the possibility of the new coronavirus causing infections in the Washington region.

On Wednesday, Chief Safety Officer Theresa Impastato told the Metro Board of Directors that the agency is increasing its supplies of rubber gloves, face masks, hospital-grade disinfectant, and other cleaning supplies—by 25 percent, according to officials. It’s also stepping up major cleanings of rail cars from once to twice a week.

On average, the rail system carries about 634,000 passengers each weekday, and another 349,000 on buses. There’s only so much the agency can do when everyone’s grabbing the same handholds on trains and buses, said Metro spokesman Dan Stessel.

“If we happen to clean that pole at 9 a.m., and at 9:05 someone contaminates it, let’s say, and at 9:06 that’s you on the pole, then that doesn’t do any good,” he explained.

The sheer scale of the Metro system also presents cleaning challenges. It has more than 600 escalator handrails, some of them 20 stories tall, according to Stessel. They get wiped down once a week.

That means Metro is urging transit riders to observe good personal hygiene, joining the chorus from public health officials. Stessel said that’s a departure from the way the system has approached potential outbreaks in the past.

“They were really emphasizing, ‘look at us, we’re stepping up cleaning,’” he said. “We are, and that’s responsible, but at the same time we want to emphasize that that’s not the most effective mitigation.”

Five weeks ago, Metro activated its pandemic task force, which is meeting weekly as part of the system’s plan for dealing with a potential outbreak. Currently, Stessel said, Metro is in Phase One of that plan, which involves increasing cleaning supply stocks, enhanced monitoring, and establishing clear communication channels with other relevant agencies like D.C. Health and the CDC. Metro is also working to reassure employees that the system is aware of the potential for a public health problem.

Phase Two of Metro’s plan would be triggered by confirmed cases and an imminent risk of an outbreak in the D.C. region. Currently, there are no cases that have tested positive for the virus. But Stessel said Metro will be prepared if that changes and the system would respond with more drastic measures, like service changes.

“Every scenario that the planners … could conceive is gamed out in the pandemic plan for us. And so if there is a widespread outbreak in the region, we know what the likely effect of that would be, and who we’re taking advice from on when and where to make service adjustments, who’s going to make the call on the federal government and federal workforce,” Stessel said.

“We’re taking these steps in an abundance of caution so that we are prepared in the event that something were to break out,” he said.

This story originally appeared on WAMU.