Another employee at Port Authority's West Mifflin garage tests positive for covid-19

The Port Authority of Allegheny County reports that a tenth employee — the sixth worker at the same bus garage — has tested positive for covid-19.

The employee works at the West Mifflin garage, transit agency spokesman Jim Ritchie announced Friday.

The employee has been off work and in self-quarantine since Tuesday.

Ritchie said an outside firm “deep cleaned and sanitized” the entire maintenance garage as a result of the “cluster of positive covid-19 cases among maintenance personnel at this facility.”

Other steps to be taken at the facility within the next day or two include:

• Reducing maintenance staff working during each shift to 10 or less.

• Taking the temperature of all garage employees prior to their shift. Any employee with a temperature above 100.4 degrees will be sent home with pay, until cleared by their medical provider to return to work.

“Our team is focused on this cluster of cases at West Mifflin and we have been working with union leadership to address this,” Port Authority CEO Katharine Kelleman said in a statement. “We are doing everything we can to balance the safety of our employees and maintaining critical transit services that operate out of this garage.”

Ritchie said the authority in working with public health officials to implement any additional recommendations and will reinforce hygiene protocols and social distancing guidelines.

This latest case comes a day after Port Authority officials announced their ninth employee tested positive for covid-19.

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