US commuters uncomfortable as Delta variant threatens to return to workplace

NEW YORK / ATLANTA, July 30 (Reuters) – The rapidly spreading Delta variant of the coronavirus worries some US commuters who are already back on crowded buses and subway cars as US businesses attempt a better return to work after more one year of pandemic disruption.

For Bernice Donkor, a resident of New York, whose subway journey takes over an hour each way, it is already difficult to find a place.

“I was very worried,” said the 28-year-old city employee. “I try to protect myself – sanitize my hands, wash my hands as soon as we get to the office and, of course, home.”

In Atlanta, Scott Monty, 69, wore a blue face mask as he waited for the bus earlier this week. He was heading towards an office that had just reopened.

“I have high blood pressure, and I’m old, so I have to be careful. So I say a prayer to the Lord,” said the semi-retired accountant. “I have a mask and I have God.”

For a few months earlier this year, the pandemic ebbed as vaccines became widely available and states relaxed most restrictions, allowing aspects of daily life to resume.

Infections have declined, COVID-19 hospital wards have emptied, and some companies have started asking remote workers to return to the office after working from home for more than a year.

With the highly contagious variant now causing an increase in coronavirus cases in the United States, a revamp is underway.

The White House announced Thursday that people working for the federal government, the largest employer in the United States, will be required to show proof of vaccination or wear masks, practice social distancing and take regular tests. Read more

Tech giants like Alphabet’s Google (GOOGL.O) said this week that all their U.S. employees must be vaccinated to enter offices. But Microsoft’s LinkedIn (MSFT.O) now allows most employees to work remotely. Read more

In schools, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently recommended that all students and staff wear masks, regardless of their immunization status. Read more

PANDEMIC DIVING

Public transport ridership plummeted in American cities during the pandemic.

New York subway ridership remains down about 50% on weekdays, according to the Metropolitan Transit Authority, the nation’s largest transit system.

The San Francisco-Bay area BART system averaged 47,000 weekday passengers in the first quarter of 2021, about one-ninth of ridership before the pandemic. But BART ridership has started to rebound – it was over 88,000 on Wednesday, down from around 70,000 two months ago.

Transmission of COVID-19 in public transport is difficult to determine given the mitigation measures such as masking and social distancing put in place at the start of the pandemic, said infectious disease expert Dr Amesh Adalja at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in Baltimore.

Public transport systems located in areas with high vaccination rates are best placed to avoid epidemics, he added, but “it is inevitable that there will be spread and transmission on these cars between. unvaccinated individuals “.

Many metro and bus users have turned to cars and bicycles during the pandemic.

In October of last year, the average daily number of Citi bike rides taken by New Yorkers fell from pandemic lows recorded in April 2020 to higher levels than the same month in 2019, according to the Cycling Program in 2019. New York City self-service.

Sebastian Tordilla, 17, said he was eager to get his driver’s license so he could get off Los Angeles buses.

“It got really busy there, a lot of people don’t wear masks, there’s this new variant, it’s very claustrophobic,” said the student and part-time restaurant worker.

Other commuters, like Atlanta chief Chris Rabideau, are less concerned.

Rabideau, who is fully vaccinated, was reading a dog-eared paperback on a scorching afternoon as he sat on the bus bench, waiting for number 6 to take him to work.

“No, COVID and Delta and the rest don’t bother me. I’m just living my life,” said Rabideau, 46, without a mask. “If that happens, I’ll wear masks again, but right now I’m cool.”

Reporting by Maria Caspani in New York, Rich McKay in Atlanta, Brendan O’Brien in Chicago and Tim Reid in Los Angeles. Written by Maria Caspani. Editing by Donna Bryson and Aurora Ellis

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