NEW YORK – A recent study by NYU’s Robyn Gershon has found that nearly ¼ of MTA employees have contracted COVID-19 at some point this year. This is the latest in many problems that have presented themselves to the MTA. In addition to an increasing billion-dollar debt, ridership continues to fall below 70% compared to October 2019.
While lesser commuters have generally led to a safer environment, Gershon’s study implies that this added level of security for riders needs a fundamental implementation to MTA staff as well.
This is just the preliminary investigation; the July study is the first of many studies to come. With a history of impacting city laws, Gershon’s corresponding work focused on the World Trade Center evacuations of 9/11 which later changed city-wide fire codes. Her 9/11 focused study concentrated extensively on the mental illnesses carried by the first responders.
Gershon suggests that the MTA’s reported total quarantine leaves don’t add up with the amount of documented cases. She is hoping her newfound review will shed light on the mental toll that transit personnel have been experiencing.
The Transport Workers Union Local 100 aided with the study, in the hopes that this would bring an increase in employee testing. They are further advocating for vaccine priority for when one comes available.
Out of the 645 MTA employees who completed the survey, 24% of them stated that at some point COVID-19 was present in their body. Particularly, 40% of these 645 claimed to have had pre-existing underlying health issues, while 72% of workers feared long-term health consequences that may stem from their work. 60% of the people surveyed expressed that they could not maintain their work-induced anxiety. Altogether, this study proposes that 90% of MTA officials fear that they will get sick from coming into work.
Out of the 260,000 COVID-19 cases facing New York City, 32,998 people have died. 130 of those deaths have been transit workers. Nonetheless, the MTA insinuates that this research is nothing more than a poll rather than a genuine scientific study.
The MTA added that only a portion of employees were actually surveyed for this inquiry and that their infection rate is at 7%, meaning, according to them 3,921 out of 53,000 personnel have tested positive.
This has not been the only hurdle that the MTA has needed to overcome this year. Facing a possibility of 8,500 layoffs, the transportation company has also faced service cuts up to 40% in 2020. Despite that, they have not been shy about implementing recent additions to their subway to better secure passenger safety.
As fewer people commute, the less crowded subways have allowed the MTA to implement safety protocols to better ensure a safer environment. The latest of these efforts is a three-part air filtration system. This 10-million-dollar project concentrates on not only killing the virus but cold and flu particles as well.
Without help from Congress, these new implementations have only further advanced the MTA’s debt. Accumulating a potential debt of 3.4 billion this year, the MTA’s deficit could reach 50.4 billion by 2024.
As 2020 prolongs, the repercussions of COVID-19 have been catastrophically felt by the MTA. Once the study is complete, both NYU researchers and the TWU Local 100 have offered to join forces with MTA representations to assure the creation of the best guidelines imaginable for employees.
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