Washington State Ferries: Seattle terminal employee with COVID-19 dies

Nathan Pilling | Kitsap Sun

A longtime employee at the state's Seattle ferry terminal contracted the novel coronavirus and has died, Washington State Ferries confirmed Monday afternoon.

WSF spokesman Ian Sterling identified the deceased worker as Esther Bryant-Kyles and said she had worked for the agency for 25 years. According to information from her family, Bryant-Kyles had initially tested negative for COVID-19, but later tested positive, Sterling said.

"She did pass due to underlying conditions in association with COVID-19," Sterling said.

Bryant-Kyles was a terminals employee at Colman Dock in Seattle whose main duty was ticket-taking, Sterling said. It was not immediately clear the last day Bryant-Kyles had been on the job, he said, adding that employees who may have had direct contact with her were notified about her death.

"Very sad day at WSF," the agency said in a statement on Sunday. "We mourn the loss of a 25-year WSF employee from our terminals department. Our thoughts and hearts are with their family, friends and all our frontline employees during this difficult time."

Sterling called recent days "scary times for our front-line employees," who are required to interact with the public in jobs like taking tickets and who are needed to keep boats and terminals clean and running. The agency has shifted its messaging to the public to: "You shouldn’t be on that boat," he said. "You shouldn't be on that boat unless you absolutely need to be."

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Nathan Pilling is a reporter covering Bainbridge Island, North Kitsap and Washington State Ferries for the Kitsap Sun. He can be reached at 360-792-5242, nathan.pilling@kitsapsun.com or on Twitter at @KSNatePilling.

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