STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The MTA is exploring a pilot to equip New York City buses with plexiglass dividers between bus operators and passengers to further reduce exposure and curb the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

In an interview with MSNBC on Monday morning, MTA Chairman and CEO Patrick Foye said the plexiglass dividers could be installed in addition to rear boarding on buses and not collecting fares. An MTA spokesperson said Monday that the agency was exploring a pilot to separate bus operators and passengers.

“We have gone to rear door boarding on buses to eliminate contact between bus operators and passengers,” he said in the interview. “We’ve eliminated the collection of cash on buses, Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North. This morning, we’re putting in place plexiglass dividers between bus customers and operators in addition to the fact that we’re doing rear door boarding on buses and not collecting cash.”

Beginning Monday, the MTA is installing plexiglass barriers at all work locations, including all 28 bus depots and three central maintenance facilities to further protect transit workers and promote social distancing guidelines, according to a statement from Craig Cipriano, acting MTA Bus president and acting senior vice president for the NYC Transit Department of Buses.

“These dividers are currently being installed in areas where employees would normally congregate in performing their essential tasks, such as storerooms, dispatcher windows and maintenance Line Supervisor desks," said Cipriano. “Markers will also be placed on floors to help employees maintain distances of six feet apart.”

The dividers were added to existing efforts the MTA has already put in place, including rear door boarding on buses, eliminating cash transactions, and enhancing chaining measures to further separate bus operators and customers. Express bus front rows have also been made off-limits.

“We continue to recommend in the strongest terms all essential workers traveling with us during this time wear a face covering,” said Cipriano. "...The health and safety of our customers and employees is our top priority.”

The focus of the MTA has been “protecting customers and employees,” Foye said in the interview with MSNBC.

After the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in New York City, the MTA began disinfecting stations and gave workers personal protective equipment (PPE).

“Since March 1, we distributed 2.7 million pairs of gloves, nearly 750,000 masks, which includes about 300,000 N95s, and the remainder surgical masks,” he said. “And we distributed gloves and other equipment [for] MTA workers disinfecting the stations. That works continues.”

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Foye said MTA transit workers “continue to move New York" and said they are “heroes moving heroes." Service is dedicated to essential workers, Foye added, including first responders, doctors, nurses, utility workers, firefighters, grocery story and pharmacy workers, as well as fellow transit workers.

“...Transit workers across every MTA agency are acting heroically,” he said in the interview. “We mourn and grieve with the families of those that have been lost and it is beyond words the effect it’s had on obviously these 50 families and the MTA.”

During a Friday morning interview with WCBS880, Foye announced that 50 employees have died from the virus thus far, with nearly 1,900 testing positive, including the chairman himself.

Foye said the number of employees currently in quarantine is at around 5,200, down from a high of 6,000. So far, 1,800 employees have returned to work.

On Thursday, the MTA announced it is taking additional precautions to ensure the health of its workforce by deploying a “Temperature Brigade" of medically trained personnel to check employees’ temperature as they report to work at 22 locations throughout the region.

“One of the best ways to reduce the spread of COVID-19 is to ensure that people who are sick are staying home, out of the transit system and away from work,” said MTA Chief Safety Officer Patrick Warren. “Our ‘temperature brigade’ helps reduce risk for everyone, and they are among the thousands of behind-the-scenes heroes at the MTA working hard to fight this formidable pandemic. Our frontline employees are incredible, and we thank them for their courage and commitment to public service.”

Upon arrival, employees have their temperature checked using a thermal scan thermometer on their forehead. Those with a temperature exceeding 100.4 degrees are sent home and advised to seek medical attention.

The “Temperature Brigade” began last month at seven locations, but has since been expanded to 22 locations, now testing over 2,000 employees per day.

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