The increase in cases of covid-19 that has been rising since the Thanksgiving Day celebrations, has also reached public transport workers in the Big Apple, so the city’s subway, bus and ferry schedule is being affected.
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MTA is alerting passengers that fewer trains will pass due to staff shortages due to a high number of infections of the virus among MTA workers.
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The agency says it is taking steps to try to make service as consistent and reliable as possible, but that there may be long wait times for trains.
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Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state will not require MTA workers to be vaccinated, fearing this will exacerbate the current staff shortage. Currently, unvaccinated MTA workers can be tested weekly.
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“We have not seen an increase or any kind of spread related to these people. In the meantime, there is nothing we can do that creates a dynamic where there are no trains picking people up for their jobs in the morning or bringing in workers from the health. to their jobs in hospitals, “said Hochul.
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All of this happens while this week several new sites were opened city-wide covid-19 testing, including two destined for busy Midtown subway stations, marking the first time state-funded PCR tests have been conducted on the subway.
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The test is available at the Times Square subway station and Grand Central Terminal, in addition to seven other new brick and mortar test sites opening across all five boroughs.
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Penn Station will have a test site on Thursday, along with other subway sites in Brooklyn, the Bronx and two in Queens.
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The MTA says the tests are available to anyone who wants them, including illegal immigrants and tourists.
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