25 TSA Officers in 7 Different States Have Tested Positive for Coronavirus
As the coronavirus continues to spread throughout the country, 30 Transportation Safety Administration airport employees have now tested positive for the virus.
TSA employees, most of them working directly with the public as security screeners, have tested positive for COVID-19 in at least seven states and one U.S. territory as of Monday.
“There are 25 TSA screening officers who have tested positive for COVID-19,” the agency wrote on its website. “In addition, five non-screening employees who have relatively limited interaction with the traveling public, have tested positive for the virus.”
“TSA is working with the CDC and state and local health departments to monitor local situations as well as the health and safety of our employees and the traveling public,” the TSA added.
“Impacted security checkpoints may close as needed, so you may be redirected to other security screening checkpoints at the airport. TSA officers remain dedicated to their mission to ensure that travelers can get to their destinations as safely and securely as possible.”
TSA employees have tested positive at high-traffic airports in California, Florida, Georgia, New York, New Jersey, Ohio and Virginia.
Affected airports in the Northeast include JFK and LaGuardia in New York as well as Newark Liberty in New Jersey.
TSA screeners working at Atlanta Hartsfield, Orlando, Cleveland Hopkins, Washington Dulles and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood airports have also tested positive for COVID-19.
Only one TSA employee has tested positive for the virus in the Western United States — a screener working at Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport in California.
One employee working at Cyril E. King International Airport in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, has also tested positive.
A TSA official told Fox News screeners are allowed to wear surgical masks while working and are encouraged to wash their hands frequently.
The TSA has released a map with information regarding reported COVID-19 cases among its employees.
That information includes the last shift hours worked by each coronavirus-positive employee, in case travelers want to check if they might have been exposed to the virus while traveling domestically.
The impact on American air travel from the virus has reached far beyond those working directly with the public.
Federal Aviation Administration officials told The Washington Post that 11 air traffic control towers across the country have had employees test positive for the virus.
All incoming traffic to airports in the New York City area was briefly suspended Saturday after an air traffic trainee tested positive, USA Today reported.
“A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air traffic controller trainee at New York Air Route Traffic Control Center in Ronkonkoma, N.Y., tested positive for COVID-19 today,” the agency told USA Today.
The air traffic control tower at Chicago’s Midway Airport was closed Tuesday because three FAA technicians tested positive for coronavirus.
Las Vegas McCarran International Airport closed temporarily Thursday after an air traffic controller tested positive.
The FAA said on its website it remains committed to safety for passengers as its own employees begin to test positive for the coronavirus.
“Each disruption has a distinct impact on the air traffic system. We are experiencing this at the handful of facilities already affected by COVID-19. This is frustrating and inconvenient, but is necessary in the interest of safety,” the agency said of the closures.
President Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force has not ruled out temporarily suspending all nonessential domestic air travel, CNN reported.
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