Two bus drivers test positive for coronavirus, COMET officials announce
Two COMET bus drivers have tested positive for COVID-19, the Central Midlands Regional Transit Authority said Friday, a little less than two weeks after a third driver was confirmed to have the novel coronavirus.
The transit authority said the drivers have been quarantined and the buses they drove were taken out of service and sanitized.
The infected drivers drove fixed routes 61, along Shop Road and into downtown Columbia; 11, along Fairfield Road; 83L/84, around Saint Andrews; and 401/45, down Devine Street and into the downtown area. The evening split on route 801, on Broad River Road, was also affected.
A spokeswoman for COMET told The State both drivers last worked around Sept. 17 before calling in sick and being tested.
“As the pandemic evolves, we will continue to be transparent to protect the community and to do our part to reduce cases,” John Andoh, executive director and CEO of COMET, said in a statement. “Our protocols are also evolving as we continue to explore newer and better ways to ensure that we protect our staff and our passengers so they can continue to travel safely.”
Among those protocols are multiple temperature checks for drivers and staff, daily disinfection of all vehicles and facilities, and mandatory masks or face coverings to ride COMET buses or enter facilities. Drivers have been instructed not to move the bus unless all passengers comply.
Drivers also have been given face shields, most passengers now board through the rear door and barriers have been installed, meaning exposure between drivers and passengers is minimal, officials said.
COMET has pledged to publicly disclose any time an employee who interacts with customers tests positive for the virus and has encouraged concerned passengers on the affected routes to get tested.
There have been more than 140,000 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in South Carolina since March. That equates to one out of roughly every 38 people in the Palmetto State testing positive.
In Richland County, where most of COMET’s routes operate, there have been more than 15,000 cases, or roughly one out of every 29 people.
