13th Port Authority employee tests positive for coronavirus, 11th at West Mifflin garage
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Port Authority officials announced that a 13th employee has tested positive for covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
All but two of the confirmed cases have come out of the bus service’s West Mifflin maintenance garage, officials said.
Nine of the cases at the garage involved a maintenance worker at the facility, located along Lebanon Road near Noble Drive, just north of the Allegheny County Airport. Two others with unspecified jobs there also contracted covid-19.
As of Thursday, 98 Port Authority employees were awaiting test results and 52 have returned to work after testing negative. One employee has returned after previously testing positive.
“Now, more than ever, people need access to reliable public transportation,” Port Authority CEO Katharine Kelleman said in a news release. “We will continue to provide reliable public transit to the thousands of people who rely on us as long as we can continue to do so safely.”
The latest employee to test positive last worked on Sunday, April 26 and has been in self-quarantine since.
The West Mifflin garage again will be deep cleaned by an outside company on Saturday.
The garage went through a deep cleaning twice in the last two weeks.
Officials say they are taking extra precautions to minimize the spread of the coronavirus at the garage.
Employees must have their temperatures taken upon arrival, a measure started last Sunday. Any employee with a temperature above 100.4 degrees will be sent home with pay.
Every bus leaving and returning to the West Mifflin garage will be sanitized before any other employee touches it. And facilities are cleaned and disinfected on all three shifts.
Riders have been asked to practice social distancing, must enter through the back doors and cover their faces while riding on buses.
The Port Authority has more than 2,600 employees, including 1,300 operators and 800 mechanics.