OC Transpo confirms 3rd bus driver tests positive for coronavirus

An Ottawa bus driver who worked over the Easter long weekend has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, OC Transpo says.

Ottawa transit boss John Manconi said in a memo that OC Transpo learned of the latest case within the transit agency on Thursday.

The operator was tested for the coronavirus on April 14, but Manconi says the driver in question might have been showing symptoms before then.

“The operator last worked on April 11 and may have been experiencing symptoms as early as April 10,” he wrote.

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Ottawa Public Health is conducting an investigation to determine who might have come into close contact with the driver in question, who was working over the April long weekend.

The local health unit has advised OC Transpo that the 48-hour period between April 9 and 11 is the key time frame to trace potential contacts.

Though the operator was not scheduled to work on April 9, OC Transpo has released a list of routes the driver was servicing on April 10 and 11 and also noted trips taken as a passenger on light-rail transit and an additional bus route for anyone concerned about transmission.

The bus drivers’ routes on those days were as follows:

April 10, 2020:

• Route 14: 8 a.m. Tunney’s Pasture to St-Laurent Station 8:43 a.m.
• Route 14: 9 a.m. St-Laurent Station to Tunney’s Pasture 9:51 a.m.
• Route 14: 10:10 a.m. Tunney’s Pasture to St-Laurent Station 11:03 a.m.
• Route 14: 11:23 a.m. St-Laurent Station to Tunney’s Pasture 12:17 p.m.
• Route 14: 12:25 p.m. Tunney’s Pasture to St-Laurent Station 1:18 p.m.
• Route 14: 1:33 p.m. St-Laurent Station to Tunney’s Pasture 2:28 p.m.
• Route 14: 2:40 p.m. Tunney’s Pasture to St-Laurent Station 3:33 p.m.
• Route 14: 3:48 p.m. St-Laurent Station to Tunney’s Pasture 4:43 p.m.
• Route 14: 4:55 p.m. Tunney’s Pasture to St-Laurent Station 5:47 p.m.

April 11, 2020:

• Route 62: 7:47 a.m. Tunney’s Pasture Station to Terry Fox Park & Ride 8:19 a.m.
• Route 62: 8:27 a.m. Terry Fox Park & Ride to Tunney’s Pasture 8:58 a.m.
• Route 74: 9:04 a.m. Tunney’s Pasture Station to Riverview Park & Ride 9:42 a.m.
• Route 74: 9:45 a.m. Riverview Park & Ride to Tunney’s Pasture Station 10:21 a.m.
• Route 75: 10:29 a.m. Tunney’s Pasture Station to Barrhaven Centre 10:56 a.m.
• Route 75: 11:01 a.m. Barrhaven Centre to Tunney’s Pasture Station 11:29 a.m.
• Route 75: 11:44 a.m. Tunney’s Pasture Station to Minto Recreation Centre 12:25 p.m.
• Route 75: 12:30 p.m. Minto Recreation Centre to Tunney’s Pasture 1:12 p.m.
• Route 62: 1:17 p.m. Tunney’s Pasture Station to Terry Fox Park & Ride 1:52 p.m.
• Route 62: 1:57 p.m. Terry Fox Park & Ride to Tunney’s Pasture Station 2:29 p.m.
• Route 75: 2:44 p.m. Tunney’s Pasture to Minto Recreation Centre 3:25 p.m.
• Route 75: 3:30 p.m. Minto Recreation Centre to Tunney’s Pasture Station 4:12 p.m.
• Route 62: 4:17 p.m. Tunney’s Pasture Station to Terry Fox Park & Ride 4:52 p.m.
• Route 62: 4:57 p.m. Terry Fox Park & Ride to Tunney’s Pasture Station 5:28 p.m.

Other trips:

• Was a passenger on O-Train Line 1: 5:40 p.m. Tunney’s Pasture to St-Laurent
  Station 6 p.m.
• Was a passenger on the Route 40: 6:12 p.m. St-Laurent Station to 1500 St. Laurent Blvd.
  6:15 p.m.

OC Transpo says anyone concerned they might have come into close contact with the operator on the days in question should call Ottawa Public Health at 613-580-6744 to speak to a nurse or visit ottawapublichealth.ca.

This latest positive test marks the fifth case of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, within the transit agency, as three bus drivers, an O-Train ambassador and a special constable have tested positive.

On Thursday, Ottawa Public Health announced an additional 35 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the city, bringing the total up to 678. An additional person also died as a result of the coronavirus, increasing the death toll to 14.