Fifth TSA officer dies of the coronavirus
Newark NJ April 30 2020
A Transportation Security Administration officer at Newark Liberty International Airport has died of the coronavirus, bringing the total number of deaths at the agency to five, with 500 officers testing positive at airports nationwide.
TSA said “with deep sorrow” Wednesday that Mark Barisonek, who spent 16 years with the agency, most of them at Newark, died on Tuesday.
“He was an integral member of Team Newark and will be remembered fondly by those who knew him and worked alongside him,” the agency said.
Barisonek is the second TSA employee at Newark Airport to die of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Francis “Frank” Boccabella III, an explosives detective canine handler, died of COVID-19 on April 2. Boccabella was the first TSA employee to die of the disease.
United Airlines’ Terminal C at Newark Liberty International Airport is nearly empty on April 8, 2020.
A total of 56 TSA employees in Newark have tested positive for the coronavirus, making it second only to New York JFK International, with 105 confirmed cases. Another 32 TSA workers have tested positive at LaGuardia Airport, and three at Long Island’s MacArthur Airport, making the New York region a hot spot for the virus.
TSA installed plexiglass screens at security checkpoints at JFK this week in an effort to protect officers, according to a tweet from Lisa Farbstein, an agency spokeswoman.
Three other TSA workers have died this month: Victor Chung, a supervising officer at Miami International Airport, on April 19; Dian Phipps, a TSA officer at Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport, on April 13; and Alberto Camacho, a branch manager for the TSA’s Acquisition Program Management in Arlington, Virginia, on April 3.
As of Wednesday, 208 of the 500 officers who tested positive have recovered.
The TSA’s daily traveler count has ticked up slightly since a low of 87,534 on April 14. On Tuesday, 110,913 travelers passed through U.S. airport security checkpoints.
That’s still a fraction of the 2.1 million travelers who did so a year ago. The public isn’t likely to board flights in large numbers again until the economy begins to stir.
The reopening of attractions such as theme parks will be tied to the resumption of nonessential travel. Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly told CNBC on Tuesday that Disney parks would play a role in getting travelers back on commercial flights.
