Bus Driver Dies After Posting Video About Passenger's Cough

A Detroit bus driver who posted a video less than two weeks ago warning everyone to take the coronavirus seriously has died of COVID-19. Mayor Mike Duggan announced Jason Hargrove's death Thursday, the Guardian reports. "Everyone in Detroit and everybody in America should watch" Hargrove's Facebook video, Duggan said. "I don’t know how you can watch it and not tear up." The driver made the video after a woman coughed "four or five times" he said, on his bus without covering her mouth. "I feel violated," Hargrove said on the video, obviously upset. "I feel violated for the folks that were on the bus when this happened." Hargrove said that he tried to disinfect the bus and that he'd take his clothes off immediately and shower when he got home to protect his family. "For us to get through this and get over this, man, you all need to take this s--- seriously," he said.

A few days later, per the Free Press, Hargrove began to feel sick. The city's bus drivers were already worried, calling in sick last month to briefly shut down public transportation. An organization representing passengers said many health care workers need public transportation to get to work. Some drivers are calling for physical barriers to be installed between them and passengers. "I just think the protections that have been put in place are inadequate for what's going on out here," one driver said. "In my personal opinion, the mayor and the governor needs to shut everything down for a couple of weeks." The head of the drivers' union also has tested positive for the coronavirus. (More coronavirus stories.)