By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
The number of TSA screeners who have tested positive for the coronavirus has reached 12, the agency has confirmed.
The screeners work in airports in New York, Ohio, New Jersey, California, Florida and Georgia.
Another TSA employee who is not a screener and had limited contact with the public also tested for the coronavirus.
An undisclosed number of the those screeners’ coworkers will be quarantined for 14 days, the TSA said.
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents nearly 50,000 TSA officers nationwide, is calling on more protections for the screeners.
Fears of becoming infected with the coronavirus has prompted hundreds of screeners to skip work, raising concerns of staffing shortfalls. TSA Administrator David Pekoske gave TSA employees permission to use paid “weather and sick leave” if they decided to stay home, Government Executive reports.
