The city of Santa Clarita released a statement regarding the death of a Santa Clarita Transit driver from COVID-19.

The full statement is as follows:

(On Tuesday) the city of Santa Clarita was notified of three positive cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) among bus drivers with Santa Clarita Transit.

Sadly, one of the drivers passed away this morning.

The City sends heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the deceased. We are working closely with our partners at MV Transportation to ensure buses and facilities are sanitized and deep-cleaned.

More information will be released shortly by MV Transportation.

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Statement from MV Transportation:

On Tuesday, March 31, MV Transportation was notified that two of its Commuter operators supporting the City of Santa Clarita Transit tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19).  MV is the independent contractor for Santa Clarita’s transit services.

One of the employees, who sadly passed away the same day, last worked Friday, March 27, when driving commuter trips to North Hollywood and Warner Center.  The driver became ill on Saturday, March 28, and subsequently was hospitalized.  The second employee also last worked Friday, March 27, driving commuter trips to North Hollywood and Warner Center.

These two positive tests come one day after another MV worker supporting Santa Clarita tested positive for COVID-19.  This employee, also a Commuter operator, has not driven a City bus since March 17.

MV has notified employees who were in close contact with these individuals and those employees have been asked to self-quarantine for 14 days.  Additionally, all vehicles driven by these individuals, workspaces, and other areas of the operation have received a deep cleaning.

The safety and wellbeing of passengers and employees is the foremost consideration of both MV and Santa Clarita Transit.  To that end, we have implemented enhanced cleaning protocols to include daily cleaning of vehicles with an extra-strength, hospital-grade disinfectant that has been proven to be effective against COVID-19.  Surfaces that customers and staff come into contact with, including but not limited to seats, seatbelts, seat frames, stanchions, doors, bus interior surfaces, wheel chairlifts and controls, floors and the driver’s area are regularly cleaned.  This same cleaner is used within transit facilities.

We are not sharing personally identifiable information out of respect for our colleague’s privacy and in keeping with HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) protections.  We will not announce every new illness or positive employee diagnosis since that could lead to individuals being identified and could cause other spaces to be mistakenly seen as being without risk.  Additionally, if employees fear their privacy will be compromised, they may not seek needed medical care, which hinders the ability of public health officials to respond.

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MV Transportation operates the city’s fleet of more than 100 vehicles under a 4-year contract signed in 2018. The Dallas-based company provides commuter and fixed-route bus service, as well as Access Services and Dial-A-Ride paratransit locally. Under its contract, it is responsible for all operational activities of the service including safety, training, scheduling, dispatch, maintenance and call center support.