nobody will come visit NYC now. The state will go bankrupt
The MTA’s 24-hour hot line for workers with coronavirus symptoms is constantly crashing because it’s being flooded with calls — and higher-ups are bracing for a mass sickout, transit insiders told The Post.
Bus and subway employees already called out sick at three times the normal rate last week, prompting the MTA to dramatically reduce service.
While the MTA’s bus-facilities department has told its entire maintenance team to come in Monday, similar functions at other departments are at 50 percent personnel levels, per state orders, a senior source said.
“Most people think there’s just going to be a mass sickout,” the source said. “That’s what the managers are preparing for, that they’re not going to have anybody in their shop.”
Meanwhile, workers say they are reduced to cleaning their own workspaces with homemade bleach concoctions.
At least two transit workers have already died from the virus. The MTA has confirmed 157 cases, including agency Chairman Pat Foye, who tested positive Saturday morning. Hundreds more have self-quarantined due to COVID-19 exposure, primarily from New York City Transit.
AC