TSA: 515 people had COVID at Miami Airport

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Miami International Airport is successful the pb for the highest fig of COVID cases, beating different ample hubs similar JFK successful New York and Los Angeles.

The Transportation Security Administration began tracking COVID cases in March 2020.  The existent information shows 515 radical person gotten sick astatine MIA.  Of those, 492 wherever TSA Screening Officers.

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Miami isn’t the lone airdrome with precocious numbers, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando are successful the apical five.

CBS4 asked the TSA what the crushed down this was.  A TSA spokesperson explained successful writing, “The numbers among our officers person from the opening of the pandemic tended to way the dispersed successful the communities successful which we live.”

It besides mentioned that some Miami and Fort Lauderdale had immoderate of the newest exertion to trim touchpoints and mitigate the dispersed of disease.  With that said, Florida has been among the apical 3 states with COVID cases for the past fewer months.

Chief Medical Officer Dr. Hany Attallah astatine Jackson Memorial Hospital said it’s bully that the TSA keeps track, but it doesn’t archer the full picture.

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“We request to instrumentality a truly adjacent look astatine whether these radical are vaccinated, the vaccines person been shown to beryllium preventative, vaccine uptake has not been shown to beryllium arsenic large successful Florida arsenic different parts of the country,” helium said.

Dr. Attallah besides acknowledged that the TSA has enactment successful a fig of adjuvant measures to bounds the dispersed of COVID-19, but there’s ever an inherent hazard with travel.

“They thin to beryllium busier airports with much staff, I deliberation it would beryllium absorbing to look astatine the percent alternatively than conscionable the earthy numbers of radical who enactment for TSA who getting infected but those are each things that undoubtedly lend to this arsenic well,” helium explained.

The TSA besides told CBS4 that travelers should not beryllium much acrophobic than they person been since the pandemic has started. It wants to punctual everyone to instrumentality precautions, deterioration masks and bounds arsenic galore touchpoints arsenic possible.

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Since the pandemic began, 2 MIA TSA employees person died. Both deaths happened successful 2020.

Jacqueline Quynh