COVID‐19 mortality among Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) and Transport Workers Union (TWU) workers—March–July 2020, New York City metro area

Tomasi, Suzanne E.; Ramirez‐Cardenas, Alejandra; Thiese, Matthew S.; Rinsky, Jessica L.; Chiu, Sophia K.; Luckhaupt, Sara; Bateman, Russell; Burrer, Sherry L.

BACKGROUND: Transit workers have jobs requiring close public contact for extended periods of time, placing them at increased risk for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection and more likely to have risk factors for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19)‐related complications. Collecting timely occupational data can help inform public health guidance for transit workers; however, it is difficult to collect during a public health emergency. We used nontraditional epidemiological surveillance methods to report demographics and job characteristics of transit workers reported to have died from COVID‐19. METHODS: We abstracted demographic and job characteristics from media scans on COVID‐19 related deaths and reviewed COVID‐19 memorial pages for the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) and Transport Workers Union (TWU). ATU and TWU provided a list of union members who died from COVID‐19 between March 1–July 7, 2020 and a total count of NYC metro area union members. Peer‐reviewed publications identified through a scientific literature search were used to compile comparison demographic statistics of NYC metro area transit workers. We analyzed and reported characteristics of ATU and TWU NYC metro area decedents. RESULTS: We identified 118 ATU and TWU NYC metro area transit worker COVID‐19 decedents with an incidence proportion of 0.3%. Most decedents were male (83%); median age was 58 years (range: 39–71). Median professional tenure was 20 years (range: 2–41 years). Operator (46%) was the most reported job classification. More than half of the decedents (57%) worked in positions associated with close public contact. CONCLUSION: Data gathered through nontraditional epidemiological surveillance methods provided insight into risk factors among this workforce, demonstrating the need for mitigation plans for this workforce and informing transit worker COVID‐19 guidance as the pandemic progressed.