I’ve been tracking the spread of coronavirus with TSA employees since the outbreak and as of now TSA now has had 500 employees test positive for COVID-19. 208 of these employees have recovered although five have passed away.
Almost 40% of the cases came from New York area airports — New Orleans, Miami, and Chicago were other hotspots.
Below, you can see the total number of confirmed cases and the last work date of the most recent screening officer that was confirmed for different airports.
This update comes as TSA has announced new rules that are being put into place in order to help make things safer for staff and airline passengers.
I do have to hand it to the TSA for being very transparent about employee infections and allowing the public to have readily accessible data regarding its different hotspot locations. At a time when we have heard about entities trying to keep things under wraps, it’s refreshing to have an organization taking extra effort to keep the public informed.
| Airport | Total Confirmed Cases | TSA Screening Officers | Non-Screening Employees | Last work date of most recent screening officer confirmed case |
| ALW – Walla Walla Regional | 1 | 1 | 3/24/2020 | |
| ATL – Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International | 14 | 13 | 1 | 3/18/2020 |
| AVP – Wilkes Barre Scranton International | 2 | 2 | 3/18/2020 | |
| BDL – Bradley International | 1 | 1 | 4/13/2020 | |
| BNA – Nashville International | 9 | 9 | 3/24/2020 | |
| BOI – Boise Air Terminal | 4 | 4 | 3/29/2020 | |
| BOS – Logan International | 16 | 16 | 4/12/2020 | |
| BUF – Buffalo Niagara International | 1 | 1 | 3/14/2020 | |
| BUR – Bob Hope | 1 | 1 | 4/15/2020 | |
| BWI – Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3/12/2020 |
| CLE – Cleveland-Hopkins International | 4 | 4 | 3/20/2020 | |
| DCA – Ronald Reagan Washington National | 4 | 4 | 3/31/2020 | |
| DEN – Denver International | 17 | 16 | 1 | 4/8/2020 |
| DFW – Dallas/Fort Worth International | 13 | 11 | 2 | 4/16/2020 |
| DTW – Detroit Metro Wayne County | 7 | 7 | 4/18/2020 | |
| EWR – Newark Liberty International | 56 | 47 | 9 | 4/19/2020 |
| FLL – Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International | 16 | 16 | 4/26/2020 | |
| GEG – Spokane International | 1 | 1 | 4/1/2020 | |
| GRI – Central Nebraska Regional | 1 | 1 | 4/12/2020 | |
| GSP – Greenville-Spartanburg International | 1 | 1 | 3/31/2020 | |
| HNL – Daniel K. Inouye International Airport | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3/12/2020 |
| IAD – Washington Dulles International | 6 | 5 | 1 | 4/23/2020 |
| IAH – George Bush Intercontinental | 5 | 4 | 1 | 4/4/2020 |
| IND – Indianapolis International | 5 | 4 | 1 | 4/7/2020 |
| IPL – Imperial County | 1 | 1 | 3/26/2020 | |
| ISP – Long Island MacArthur | 3 | 3 | 3/25/2020 | |
| JAC – Jackson Hole Airport | 3 | 3 | 3/25/2020 | |
| JAX – Jacksonville International | 1 | 1 | 3/27/2020 | |
| JFK – John F. Kennedy International | 105 | 98 | 7 | 4/21/2020 |
| LAS – McCarran International/Las Vegas | 2 | 2 | 3/19/2020 | |
| LAX – Los Angeles International | 11 | 11 | 4/9/2020 | |
| LGA – LaGuardia | 32 | 29 | 3 | 4/23/2020 |
| MCO – Orlando International | 14 | 14 | 4/5/2020 | |
| MDW – Chicago Midway International | 2 | 2 | 4/25/2020 | |
| MIA – Miami International | 18 | 16 | 2 | 4/20/2020 |
| MKE – General Mitchell International | 1 | 1 | ||
| MSO – Missoula International | 1 | 1 | 3/23/2020 | |
| MSY – Louis Armstrong New Orleans International | 27 | 26 | 1 | 4/13/2020 |
| MTJ – Montrose Regional | 1 | 1 | 3/16/2020 | |
| ONT – Ontario International | 1 | 1 | 3/27/2020 | |
| ORD – Chicago O’Hare International | 14 | 13 | 1 | 4/15/2020 |
| ORF – Norfolk International | 2 | 2 | 4/5/2020 | |
| PAE – Snohomish County Airport-Paine Field | 2 | 2 | 4/1/2020 | |
| PHL – Philadelphia International | 8 | 8 | 4/20/2020 | |
| PHX – Phoenix Sky Harbor International | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4/14/2020 |
| PVD – Theodore Francis Green State | 1 | 1 | 3/19/2020 | |
| RSW – Southwest Florida International | 3 | 3 | 4/13/2020 | |
| SAN – San Diego International | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4/2/2020 |
| SBY – Salisbury-Ocean City/Wicomico Regional | 1 | 1 | 4/19/2020 | |
| SDF – Louisville International-Standiford Field | 1 | 1 | 3/24/2020 | |
| SEA – Seattle/Tacoma International | 6 | 6 | 4/16/2020 | |
| SFO – San Francisco International Airport | 2 | 2 | 3/27/2020 | |
| SJC – Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International | 5 | 5 | 3/11/2020 | |
| SJU – Luis Munoz Marin International | 1 | 1 | 3/25/2020 | |
| SLC – Salt Lake City International | 1 | 1 | 3/24/2020 | |
| SNA – John Wayne Airport-Orange County | 1 | 1 | 3/23/2020 | |
| SRQ – Sarasota Bradenton International Airport | 1 | 1 | 3/23/2020 | |
| STT – Cyril E King | 1 | 1 | 3/13/2020 | |
| TOL – Toledo Express | 2 | 2 | 4/6/2020 | |
| TPA – Tampa International | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4/8/2020 |
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4/16/20 Update:
We’ve now found out that there are over 400 cases of coronavirus with TSA employees and there have been a total of three deaths. Certain airports have been hotspots for TSA agents getting infected, especially those in the New York area.
Below is a breakdown of the top 10 hotspot airports and how many cases that they have reported.
As you can see most of the cases are clustered in New York airports but New Orleans has also had some problems.
- JFK — John F. Kennedy International: 85
- EWR — Newark Liberty International: 44
- MSY — Louis Armstrong New Orleans International: 25
- LGA — LaGuardia: 23
- DEN — Denver International: 17
- MIA — Miami International: 14
- FLL — Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International: 13
- MCO — Orlando International: 13
- ATL — Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International: 12
- BOS — Logan International: 12
This information could be very helpful for people who still need to fly right now for essential reasons as you might want to take extra precautions when making your way through security, such as wearing a mask (though I would recommend wearing a mask going through any airports right now).
You also probably want to wipe down and sanitize the luggage and items that you have to pass through security scanners, since we know the virus can live on certain surfaces for days at a time.
You can view the sights of the recent coronavirus infections here.
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4/9/20 original article:
Workers involved in transportation right now have one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, in my opinion.
Employees like TSA agents are exposed to thousands and thousands of people at their workplace and are forced to come into close contact with them on a daily basis.
Add in the fact that many carriers of the coronavirus do not show symptoms and you can see why these workers have such a risky job right now.
And unfortunately the numbers are starting to reflect these risks.
So far, a total of 329 TSA employees have tested positive for the coronavirus, a number that has increased by 162 in the past week.
And the worst stat of all is that there have now been two deaths related to the coronavirus.
The first death came from Francis “Frank” Boccabella III who was 39. He worked as an explosive detection canine handler at Newark Liberty Airport with his canine partner, Bullet, a 6-year-old German short-haired pointer and his prior canine, Zmay.
The second agent to pass away was Alberto Camacho, a branch manager in the Acquisition Program Management office, who had a 20 year career in both transportation and aviation security.
TSA has recently begun to allow workers to wear protective gear like N95 masks, goggles, and surgical masks, but like many other entities, I believe their protection came a bit late.
The good thing is that the number of passengers getting screened by TSA right now is at a record low and substantially below what it was last year. For example, TSA screened 94,931 passengers at U.S. airports Wednesday compared to 2,229,276 on the same day last year. That’s a massive disparity.
Still, these individuals have put their health and lives at risk by continuing their jobs and helping what little bit of air travel is still going on to happen.
And for that I have a ton of respect for them — I certainly would not want to be working as a TSA agent right now.
I hope that our country learns a valuable lesson about how to handle issuing out protective gear to those out on the front lines. And I’m not just talking about medical professionals.
Whether they are TSA agents, flight attendants, or people working in grocery stores who come in contact with the public every day, there needs to be a great deal more of a focus given to protective gear and protective procedures for these folks if and when the next pandemic hits US soil.
You can view the sights of the recent coronavirus infections here.
Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, and CNBC. Read my bio.