9th employee at Port Authority’s West Mifflin garage tests positive for coronavirus

Port Authority of Allegheny County on Monday reported that another employee has tested positive for covid-19.

Eleven employees have tested positive for the coronavirus, including nine at the West Mifflin bus garage.

The latest employee to test positive works in maintenance at the garage, Port Authority spokesman Adam Brandolph said. The employee last worked on April 20 and has since been in self-quarantine.

The garage has been “deep cleaned and sanitized” twice in the past two weeks, most recently on Friday, Brandolph said. Of the nine positive cases at the garage, seven involve maintenance workers.

The Port Authority on Sunday began taking employees’ temperatures before their shifts. Any employee with a temperature above 100.4 degrees will be sent home, with pay, until they are cleared to return to work by their medical provider.

The Port Authority said it is disinfecting vehicles more frequently, promoting social distancing, having customers board from the back doors, limiting the number of passengers on vehicles and asking riders to cover their faces when riding to help mitigate the spread of the virus.

As of Monday, the Port Authority has 93 employees awaiting covid-19 testing, Brandolph said. Fifty-one employees have returned to work since testing negative for the virus.

The Port Authority has more than 2,600 employees, including 1,300 operators and 800 mechanics.