1,517 TSA Employees Test Positive For Covid-19 6 Die
Charlotte NC Aug 5 2020 COVID-19 cases among Transportation Security Administration agents at Charlotte Douglas International Airport have nearly tripled in less than a month, with the most recent case reported Sunday.
Twenty-four total TSA agents working at CLT have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the TSA website. That includes 22 TSA employees whose job includes screening passengers. On July 10, TSA had reported nine employees sick with COVID-19 from the Charlotte airport.
In the case reported Sunday, the TSA worker hadn’t worked a shift at the Charlotte airport since working at the B Checkpoint on July 24, according to TSA spokesman Mark Howell.
Two other employees reported testing positive on July 29. One of those workers reported their COVID-19 positive test six days after their last shift. The other reported testing positive 17 days after their last shift at the Charlotte airport.
“As air travel expands, TSA remains dedicated to ensuring passengers get to their destinations safely and securely,” Howell said in a statement. “… In addition, we are urging employees to follow precautionary protective measures closely while off-duty — not only when performing the critical security mission at airports nationwide.”
Nationwide, 1,517 TSA employees have tested positive for the coronavirus and six have died,
The Charlotte airport has seen the same number of cases among TSA employees as Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and Tampa International Airport.
John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York has the highest number of COVID-19 cases among TSA employees, with 117 reported sick as of Tuesday.
Charlotte Douglas airport has reported low passenger numbers since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, a national trend affecting airline revenue.
American Airlines, the dominant carrier at CLT, has reported plans to layoff or furlough nearly 1,500 employees in Mecklenburg County starting in October. And American Airlines subsidiary airline PSA Airlines will lay off or furlough 247 employees also starting in October, the company announced last month.
The job losses come after months of low passenger air travel, also shown in TSA reports. On Monday, TSA reported 737,235 people traveled through TSA checkpoints nationally, compared to 2.6 million travelers in 2019.
