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Release Date: April 22, 2021
Media Hot Line: 713.739.4040
METRO has received confirmation a bus operator, two contract operators employed by First Transit and an employee in the Operations Department have tested positive for COVID-19. This brings the total number of cases to 569 METRO employees and 109 contractors since March 2020.
Two hundred sixty-seven of the employees had no contact with the public. METRO tracks and reports all positive cases among its 4000 employees and the various contractors who provide services to METRO. We are also conducting temperature checks of employees and others before they begin their workday at METRO facilities or on our vehicles.
The bus operator last worked April 15 and in the two weeks prior, drove the following routes:
 The first contract bus operator last worked April 16 and in the two weeks prior, drove the following route:
 The second contract operator last worked April 12 and in the two weeks prior, operated the following routes:
 *The charts above reflect the days the operators drove a route two weeks prior to their last days on the job.
The employee in Operations last worked April 16 and did not have contact with the public.
Anyone who comes in contact with an individual who tests positive should monitor themselves for possible symptoms, contact your health care provider as soon as you develop any symptoms, and self-isolate to avoid possibly exposing others, including refraining from using public transportation.
METRO is working with public health officials so they can identify and notify anyone who traveled the routes driven by the operators during those time frames as well as anyone else who may have been impacted by the latest positive cases.
Federal law now requires anyone on the METRO system to wear a face mask. This includes rail stations, transit centers and bus stops. Plastic face shields are not considered masks. Exemptions are available for children under the age of two, a person with a disability who cannot wear a mask or wear one safely because of a disability defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Since mid-March 2020, METRO has sought to minimize the likelihood of COVID-19 transmission by operators or passengers by encouraging social distancing, placing plastic barriers between operators and passengers, providing access to hand sanitizer while on board our system and requiring masks.
We appreciate and greatly value our riders. We have taken many actions, including working with the community at large, to “flatten the curve” of COVID-19. To prevent or minimize its transmission on the transit system, METRO asks all riders to use the system only for essential trips at this time, practice social distancing when you do ride transit (i.e., stand or sit at least 6 feet apart, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control, wash your hands for 20 seconds before boarding transit and after deboarding, cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze, or cough or sneeze into your elbow, avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, and stay home if you are sick). Additionally, riders should stand or sit no closer than six feet behind the driver.
METRO’s number one priority is protecting the health and safety of our customers, community and employees.
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