A third member of the city of Santa Fe’s Transit Division has died from COVID-19, as reported Tuesday by the Santa Fe New Mexican.
This latest fatality was a male supervisor in the bus system and is the third death of a Santa Fe transit worker this month alone. The two prior deaths were both bus drivers.
In response to this most recent death, the deputy cabinet secretary of operations for the state Environment Department Stephanie Stringer said the Occupational Health and Safety Bureau is currently gathering information related to COVID-19 cases among Santa Fe transit workers.
City spokesman Dave Herndon said the city has “stringently followed state guidelines, provided all workers with personal protective equipment and regularly cleans and sanitizes buildings and equipment.”
But even with these measures in place, the COVID-19 outbreak continued to grow among transit workers. The New Mexican reported that at least a dozen city transit workers contracted COVID in the fall of 2021.
Herndon was not allowed to comment further on if the employees that died of COVID-19 were fully vaccinated, as required by a Santa Fe city mandate until he received “further guidance from the state Environment Department’s Occupational Health and Safety Bureau.”