Helping’s in his blood
MTA chief Foye gives plasma after recovering from bug
Blood is thicker than water for MTA Chairman Patrick Foye.
The top transit honcho tested positive for coronavirus in late March, and on Saturday he donated his plasma in an effort to treat other agency employees who have contracted the disease.
Foye in April said he suffered a “mild case” of COVID-19, but many of his employees were not so fortunate.
At least 120 Metropolitan Transportation Authority workers have died from the virus, and agency officials on Sunday said 3,883 had tested positive for the disease.
If someone recovers from COVID-19, physicians can use the antibodies the person produced as a way to potentially treat those who struggle to fight it off.
“I have asked that my plasma be offered to doctors treating a hospitalized transit worker. For those who have recuperated from the virus and are able, I encourage you to consider donating plasma as well,” Foye wrote in a memo distributed to MTA employees Sunday. “For those who have not been sick, there is a critical need for blood bank donations.”
The impact of the virus on New York hits closer to home for Foye than just his workplace. His daughter is an emergency room nurse on the front lines of the fight against the pandemic.
“I donated plasma and urge others who have survived the virus to do the same in hopes it can help save lives,” Foye said in a statement to the Daily News.
Foye said his call for blood and plasma donations was spurred by a Daily News cover on Saturday that detailed a shortage at blood banks across the city.
The MTA could not provide data on how many of its employees were hospitalized with COVID-19, but officials said there are plenty of workers who could potentially donate their plasma to treat their colleagues.
Some 8,985 transit employees have returned to work after contracting the virus or being directed to quarantine after potential exposure.
Many of those workers could have caught the virus without knowing and may still be able to donate their plasma if their immune systems produced antibodies in response to the virus.
City and state officials have drastically scaled up the availability of COVID-19 antibody tests in recent weeks. They are now widely available and free of charge at locations across the five boroughs.