Three workers connected to L.A. Metro infected with the coronavirus

Three employees with ties to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority have been infected with the coronavirus, Los Angeles County officials said Tuesday.

A maintenance worker at Metro’s bus yard in South Los Angeles was hospitalized and tested positive a week later, officials said in a statement. The worker, who last went to the Hyde Park facility on March 16, has since been released and allowed to go home under quarantine, Metro said.

The areas of the bus yard where the employee worked were “thoroughly cleaned and disinfected� Tuesday morning, officials said.

“Co-workers at Division 5 who may have been in contact with the employee within the past 14 days have been notified by Metro,� the agency said in a statement. “They have been asked to self-monitor their health, including taking their temperatures twice each day and seeking health care if they develop a fever or other symptoms of the virus.�

Ridership has plummeted on Metro buses and trains since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, but Metro is continuing to operate a scaled-back schedule. The agency’s service is classified as essential under California’s stay-at-home order.

The news follows two other cases of coronavirus among Metro-affiliated workers. On Monday, Metro reported that an electrical worker who reported to a downtown Los Angeles subway yard with flu-like symptoms later tested positive for the coronavirus.

The worker stayed inside a truck after feeling ill, officials said. Three employees who had close contact with the worker were sent home and were asked to self-quarantine for two weeks, officials said.

Crews working on the project have “returned to work with remedial actions taken,� the agency said, including holding meetings outdoors “whenever possible� and using a roll call instead of passing around a sign-in sheet.

A document worker for the consortium of companies building the Crenshaw Line project through South L.A. became ill on Wednesday and was hospitalized on Saturday, officials said. All employees who worked on the same floor of the office building in Inglewood were “notified and placed into quarantine,� officials said.

Los Angeles County authorities on Tuesday confirmed an additional 128 cases of infection with the coronavirus, bringing the county’s total to 662. Of that total, 42% of cases involve people age 18 to 40, and 39% involve people 41 to 65. Eleven people have died.