WillCAD

I'm surprised that there haven't been far more cases of TSOs diagnosed with this thing, given their close, inappropriately intimate and invasive contact with the traveling public. Touching hundreds of travelers, their documents, and their possessions on a daily basis is a ready-made infection vector, not only for TSOs becoming infected, but for TSOs spreading all sorts of illness through cross-contamination.

My cynical nature expects that any changes in TSA procedures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 will be geared solely toward protecting their own workforce, and will have nothing to do with protecting the traveling public, although anything that reduces transmission vectors will be a marginal improvement in the situation as a whole. Fewer people being exposed is always a good thing, even if it's just fewer TSOs and not fewer travelers. Though of course, I'd hope that TSA would take steps to expose fewer travelers, as well.

As Peter Venkman might put it, "You guys need to change your gloves before you touch anybody - those blue things you wear on your hands. You could be exposing us. And we don't want YOU exposing us!"

1) Since when has TSA, as an organization, demonstrated any knowledge of cross-contamination?
2) The impact on domestic travel is already being felt.
3) We WILL experience a rapid, significant increase in positive tests over the next two weeks, because testing is becoming more widely available and people who are already infected are simply being discovered at a higher rate (it doesn't necessarily mean that the virus is spreading any faster).
4) Have you always changed gloves after every physical contact with a traveler and use swabs only once, or have you begun these practices recently to avoid spread of COVID-19?
5) How often are you and your coworkers washing/sanitizing/disinfecting your equipment (i.e. belts, x-rays, and especially the stainless tables where people place their possessions)? Coronavirus can remain viable and infectious for up to nine days on a non-porous surface such as stainless steel - to be even marginally effective at stopping the spread of disease, any plan must include disinfecting any surface or equipment that comes into contact with travelers or their possessions MULTIPLE times per day (not just at the end of the day). Is that policy? Is it being enforced?

You mean that when you work at the TDC podium, you sanitize your hands after each document check? Something tells me that even with the panic, travelers will show significant irritation with such a delay.

Also, are you wearing gloves at the TDC podium? Are you sanitizing the nitrile gloves? Or are you handling documents with bare hands and sanitizing them each time? I can't imagine that hand sanitizer is absorbed by nitrile gloves, nor does it evaporate instantly, so if you're sanitizing gloves, you're probably getting sanitizer on travel documents. Not sure how I'd feel about that if I were traveling, but I'm sure there are some complaints if that's what you're doing.

GUWonder

There aren't that many TSA screeners who have had the swabs stuck up their nose and/or down their throat to run the tests for this coronavirus, so expect the number of infected TSA screeners mentioned to be but the tip of an under-counted iceberg of threat to the health and well-being of passengers and others at US airports.

It doesn't take genius to figure out how to slow down the spread of this virus from TSA to passengers; and one big win for the health and safety of domestic passengers and screeners when it comes to this virus would require nothing more than eliminating the TSA's passenger ID and boarding pass checks since that is the most common point where passengers and screeners are within less than 4-6 feet of each other for more time than is required to screen for prohibited weapons, explosives and incendiaries.

The TSA travel document check elimination would be a great form of social distancing during the passenger security screening process, and the ID and boarding pass check's elimination would do the airport-using public a lot of good without compromising the search for prohibiited weapons/explosives/incendiaries at the passenger screening checkpoints.

If I were a TSA TDCer at DEN, ASE, EGE or HDN and planning on visiting elderly relatives or friends with weaker than average immune systems or with serious respiratory, circulatory or metabolic system weaknesses, I would want to get myself checked for this virus first and probably still hold off on visiting. I would be very much surprised if there weren't at least a few of the TSA TDCers at one or more of those airports who have been hit by this virus.

Section 107

Interesting that TSA only states what the last shift was the screener worked, as if that was the only time period the screener could have passed on the virus to pax. Wouldn't it be more helpful to the public to know what dates/shifts the screener worked public facing positions over the previous two weeks?

caughtinthemiddle

Boggie Dog

Not sure what the above missive has to do with TSA screeners contracting COVID-19 but would venture to say that no one here wants any screener, or anyone else for that matter, to be infected. The elephant in the room is the simple fact that TSA's own procedures likely help to spread the virus to other passengers and TSA screeners alike. Would be encouraging if that aspect of this problem was being addressed by TSA instead of fretting over how dealing with the public is so difficult. No one is forced to work for TSA!

petaluma1

Chart of TSA coronavirus cases:

https://www.tsa.gov/coronavirus

GUWonder

Since TSA screeners — especially those doing the passenger ID and boarding pass checks — are positioned as super-spreaders of this novel coronavirus (and who knows what else), perhaps the TSA should be close to the front of the line for wanting its masses of passenger-facing screeners subject to testing for this virus for much the same reason the NBA has required testing of its players.

As with the NBA players, these TSA screeners are also positioned as super-spreaders given how many people they tend to encounter in close proximity during the course of their day and where even the encountered people come from and go. Despite their position as super-spreaders, the TSA doesn’t seem to be serious about doing what is best to protect passengers from this pandemic and is still mainly continuing with business as usual while engaging in piece-meal adjustments without truly evaluating the health dangers the TSA poses to the public by sticking to its unhealthy ways.

TWA884

Major hospitals do not currently have access to enough kits to test asymptomatic staff who were exposed in addition to testing suspected patients who are coming in, so I doubt that there are enough test kits available for the TSA to test their screeners. As for my feelings about NBA players being tested while front line healthcare providers are not being tested, well those belong in OMNI....

GUWonder

I am well aware of testing kit availability issues and it informed my above comment and why I said the following in the above quoted post (with bold added here for emphasis) :

“Since TSA screeners — especially those doing the passenger ID and boarding pass checks — are positioned as super-spreaders of this novel coronavirus (and who knows what else), perhaps the TSA should be close to the front of the line for wanting its masses of passenger-facing screeners subject to testing for this virus for much the same reason the NBA has required testing of its players.”

petaluma1

The list grows longer by the day.

GUWonder

That is probably the tip of the iceberg still. And the TSA screeners doing passenger ID and boarding pass checks are going to be a bigger contributor to the virus spread in the weeks ahead and thereafter if they don’t back off on those ID and boarding checking ways ASAP.

The air travel of the Spring Break “crowd”, Easter/Passover “crowd” and school’s-out “crowd” to go home or wherever can keep this TSA problem with virus spread going and going until the TSA goes back to screening basics and backs off from being in the face (and everywhere else) of passengers.

Boggie Dog

On point! No one knows who might be infected and not showing any outward symptoms and it is those people who seem capable of passing COVID-19 to others. TSA can take steps to protect its employees but that does nothing to protect those who are still traveling. TSA needs to step up and address close contact procedures with some workarounds. No contact screening should be the norm with contact used only in extreme cases. If a person alarms then turn them around after explaining what the concern is. If the traveler can address it then reenter the screening line. Just keep your hands to yourself!

GUWonder

It wasn’t too many years back when posting here about TSA’s ways being an unnecessary risk to the health of the traveling public as a vector for infections spreading was an invitation to be mocked or otherwise targeted for marginalization.

If a critical mass of people had always taken seriously that the TSA’s various ways were a recipe for public health problems spreading and demanded action be taken against the TSA practices of sorts, the TSA’s contribution as super-spreaders of this coronavirus (and other pathogens) would be far lower than is now the situation.

TSA claimed to be on the front-line against terrorism, and what do we have now? We have a TSA on a real front-line, the front-line of this virus situation in a counterproductive way. TSA practices are so messed up that it’s fighting more for the virus spread than against; it and the TSA has shown no great eagerness to abandon practices that are unhealthy for the traveling public, its own passenger-facing employees, and for the general public at large.

petaluma1

The failure to be concerned with the health and welfare of the traveling public has been a huge issue since about Day 1.

Boggie Dog

TSA has never been particularly good at security screening. In fact, TSA has performed so poorly that they resorted to hiding the high failure scores of security testing. I doubt that TSA can perform better on following procedures limiting the spread of COVID-19 between themselves or passengers. From a travelers perspective best course is to avoid TSA altogether. If one must travel use all available tools to limit exposure to potentially infected screeners.

The earlier comment states that TSA is on the front lines of this situation is true. I think we should consider that all of us are on the front lines and to not consider TSA an ally. TSA's procedures are not geared to ensure passengers social distancing is maintained.

Again, I hope that not one additional TSA screener becomes infected, but suspect that is just wishful thinking.