TSA’s virus response deficient, official says

Complaint: Screeners lack safety equipment

A Transportation Security Administration official charges that the agency helped spread COVID-19 by failing to provide enough protective gear for airport screeners who are in close contact with travelers every day.

The top TSA official in Kansas, Jay Brainard, said the agency didn’t train staff for the pandemic and barred supervisors like him from giving screeners stockpiled N95 respirators in March when facial coverings such as surgical masks were hard to buy.

“I have no doubt whatsoever that our people became Typhoid Marys and contributed to the spread of that virus because TSA senior leadership did not make sure (screeners) were adequately protected,” Brainard said Friday.

Brainard filed a complaint against his own agency with the Office of Special Counsel, which handles whistleblower complaints, earlier this month. Late Thursday, the special counsel ordered TSA’s parent agency, the Homeland Security Department, to conduct an investigation.

The TSA said in a statement that it has followed guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in deciding protection standards for workers.

Spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said that at the start of the virus outbreak, TSA told employees that masks were optional, then made them mandatory at airport checkpoints in the first week of May.

Airport officers are required to wear nitrile gloves when they screen passengers. They must change gloves after every pat-down, and travelers can request the use of new gloves at any time, Farbstein said.

Farbstein added that plastic barriers have been installed at security checkpoints and areas where checked bags are dropped off for screening.

Brainard disputed parts of the TSA statement, saying screeners have not been told to change gloves after every pat-down. He said new guidelines that took effect last week still have gaps, including no procedure for how to handle travelers who appear to be sick.