Bus driver outraged over uncovered coughing dies of Covid-19 days later

[SunSeeker]

This Detroit bus driver posted a video about a woman coughing on his bus. Four days later, he began feeling symptoms. Now, he's dead.l

On March 21, Detroit bus driver Jason Hargrove went live on Facebook to vent about an incident that had just occurred on his bus. A woman, who he estimated to be in her "late 50s, early 60s," coughed four or five times on his crowded vehicle without covering her mouth — in the middle of the global coronavirus pandemic.

"This coronavirus sh** is for real and we out here as public workers, trying to make an honest living to take care of our families," he said. "But for you to get on the bus, and stand on the bus, and cough several times without covering up your mouth, and you know that we in the middle of a pandemic, that lets me know that some folks don't care, utterly don't give a f***."

Since the beginning of the outbreak, experts have cautioned that the virus is spread through respiratory droplets that are expelled when an infected person coughs, sneezes or even talks. And Hargrove estimated that there were about eight or nine other passengers in the woman's vicinity when she openly coughed, potentially exposing others to the virus.

On Thursday, Glenn Tolbert, the president of Hargrove's local transit union — Amalgamated Transit Union Local 26 — revealed to the The Detroit News that Hargrove began feeling symptoms four days after the incident. And in a tragic turn of events, he has now passed away.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/detroit-bus-driver-coronavirus-viral-video-woman-coughing/

[SWBTATTReg]

1. That woman should be charged with murder. She probably knew she was sick and still yet, got...

on the crowded bus. God, I feel for all of her victims.

[pnwest]

8. hold up - there's no proof her cough directly led to him catching the virus. cool your jets.

Last edited Fri Apr 3, 2020, 04:25 PM - Edit history (1)

he had thousands of passengers, and on the other side of that coin her cough might have been as passive as allergy-related congestion. So before we go calling hauling people off to jail, let's just take a breather. He was pointing out how inconsiderate she was, but there's no proof she's the actual source of his infection.

[SWBTATTReg]

10. And you don't know if she did. She was coughing all over, a pretty good sign that she was sick.

[pnwest]

15. exactly, I don't know if she did, or didn't. Ergo, I'm not calling for her to be hauled off

for murder, when it's very possible her crime was simply being inconsiderate and not covering her mouth when coughing. AS far as we know, she may have been fully aware that she only had bronchitis from allergies and knew there was no danger of contagion. She may also have know she had COVID-19 and was deliberately spreading it. I imagine the truth lies somewhere in the middle, we have no way of knowing what that truth is, and we ought not engage in mob mentality and go stringing up everyone who dares to cough in public.

[Maraya1969]

12. Do you mind removing your sexist language please?

[pnwest]

22. fine, but only because the term is an inside joke in my household and has lost it's

sexist meaning here, and i forget that not everyone is in on the joke. I use it on Mr. West quite often, because like all other men and women on the planet, he also has tits - and wild overreactions. It's as innocuous as "cool your jets" to me.

Jeezus, I can't wait for the PC police pendulum to start swinging the other way just a bit, and humor can exist again. Al Franken much? You are the reason we have such a reputation for being snowflakes. Not every single, tiny, little sliver of an infraction needs to be publicly dragged out, highlighted, prosecuted, subjected to shame and humiliation just so you hold yourself up as the paragon of all that is righteous and good and holy. Seriously, calm your...self.

[Squinch]

34. Jesus. Speaking of snowflakes, your persecution complex is showing.

[Skittles]

45. YOU GOT THAT RIGHT

Last edited Sat Apr 4, 2020, 07:35 PM - Edit history (1)

yes INDEED

[Dem2theMax]

23. Ditto. No place on DU for that kind of language.

Disgusting.

[coti]

13. There's a pretty good chance she was. That he was concerned contemporaneously, and given the timing

of the infection, there's a pretty good chance.

Regardless, I'm still not necessarily convinced that this amounts to "murder." But this woman certainly has a very serious level of culpability.

[SWBTATTReg]

18. Especially since she stood out in the middle of the whole crowd on the bus, and was very...

noticeable in her coughing. If it was just a normal cough, I think most of us would know this (the difference in coughing would stand out), and certainly the bus driver would notice the difference, being that he's probably an old pro (was) at noticing things among his passengers.

If it me, I wouldn't got on the bus. I know that some don't have any choice (need the transportation) but when it makes a difference between life and death, and one doesn't truly know whom to suspect, and since testing for the CV is so spotty and only in certain situations, perhaps its better to be more cautious and safe than not, and not ride the bus or any other public transportation. Unless there were more masks available (and there is not, reserved for the medical profession as they should be). A sad thing all around.

[coti]

28. Yeah, I'm kind of assuming she has the virus.

There was something about the article that made the implication- without that knowledge, though, chances are less so it was her.

[unblock]

17. maybe "murder" is the wrong charge. but other have been charged with terrorism for similar things

that said, there are many unknowns. can't fault someone if it was their first cough, or they genuinely didn't believe they were sick.

also, "covering up" a cough is better than nothing, but it hardly makes it perfectly safe for the people around you.


the real problem is just plain getting into a crowded situation if you know you're sick.

[ProfessorGAC]

20. Negligent Harm

Don't know about MI, but IL has a law where someone does something negligent, but without direct intent to harm.
At least they used to. Some twenty something's got charged with it 20 years or so ago, when they let a 10 year old take a motorcycle out. Kid didn't die, but was injured for life. I don't remember what their penalty was, though.

[3Hotdogs]

21. The "terrorism" charges were brought against clowns who used their cough as a form of direct

aggression/assault against another person. Not against general, all American coughing.

[unblock]

33. again, the level of intent may determine the particular charge

the point is that such things are very serious, and things that are perfectly ordinary or minor annoyances at worse are now potentially lethal and criminal given during a pandemic.

there are criminal charges that don't require intent, often including a word like "negligent" or "reckless".

[Dream Girl]

24. The sequence of events are pretty damning.

Are you willfully ignorant or wat? What’s your point?

[pnwest]

31. no, I'm not willfully ignorant. Im just saying it miiiiiight be a bit of an

overreaction to go calling for her to be charged with murder, when the person calling for her to be charged with murder doesn't know any information other than she was coughing on a bus. Bit of a stretch.

I know a woman with a heart condition that leaves fluid in and around her lungs, and her cough sounds like she's drowning in phlegm and spit and mucus. It's terrifying to hear. Not a danger to anyone in any way at all. But to hear her, you'd thinks she's spreading disease and pestilence all around. The bus driver doesn't know this woman's story. No one does. He might have been cough-shaming someone who was utterly without blame. It could have been an asymptomatic person standing right next to her that gave him the virus. It coudl have been one of any of the hundreds of people he saw that day, or any day in the two weeks prior to him getting symptoms, including people he encountered that weren't even ON his bus...none of us know where he picked up the virus.

I'm just calling for people to dial it back a notch, and for us all not to assume everyone who has a terrible, wet, wracking cough is out to murder everyone. That's my fucking point.

[spudspud]

32. If she was the one who gave it to him...

and she's in her 50's or 60's, I'm pretty sure the virus will take care of her, if you know what I mean. If it hasn't already. And again, if she's the one who was infected, it's just unfortunate that she didn't give a crap about anyone around her. I can only hope that no one else was infected on the bus by her coughing.

[pbmus]

2. This virus is going to bring us together to kill it

Or It will kill many more than 250,000...

[cayugafalls]

3. If only our government had masks that it could provide to all people...nt

[BComplex]

14. Or maybe enough tests so that everyone could be tested, and we would KNOW

how many need to start taking measures to make sure they live through it. Waiting until people are in critical condition to admit them to the hospital is not the optimal way to save lives.

[cayugafalls]

16. Granted testing is another area where this admin has f'd up badly.

I already know I need to take measures to make sure I live through it.

Even if we had enough tests, do you think everybody would get tested? I don't. I think there is around 30% of the population that is severely stupid and they just don't care because jeebus will save them.

Just my thoughts...

Stay well.

[DENVERPOPS]

27. F'ed up badly

infers they made a mistake, There should be NO question in anyone's mind that this "no testing" was intentional.

AND, worse yet, is that the "No Testing" has become "Precious Little Testing" to this very day..............

[cayugafalls]

38. My apologies. I should have used a more appropriate phrase. nt

[Meowmee]

30. Yep masks for everyone could have prevented a lot of transmissions

There is no way to know if she was infected and was transmitting it in that incident, but a mask for everyone on that bus could have prevented it. A lot of people are not doing what they should. I know of one person who said two relatives have it who is not staying home etc. he is wearing a mask. I am not sure if he had direct contact with them. It can apparently be transmitted just by talking/ breathing as well and by people who are showing no symptoms.

[BusyBeingBest]

4. No way to trace it to that disgusting passenger, but

certainly he was at risk from everyone on his bus, day in and day out. He was about my age...very sad.

[Stuart G]

6. Very sad..Just proves how important masks & stay at home orders are.

[SunSeeker]

19. Bus drivers should be issued N95 masks, but here's no excuse for passengers not wearing cloth masks.

If you've got 2 rubber bands and a bandana, you've got a mask.
Here's one you can make in seconds without sewing- just need two rubber bands and a hanky/bandana. https://www.facebook.com/groups/koronavirushrvatska/permalink/565572420981204/

If you have a sewing machine, here's a nifty one that takes less than 20 minutes to sew and uses twist ties as nose clips. : http://xobonmag.com/project/fabric-face-mask/

[dewsgirl]

7. Heartbreaking.💔

[riversedge]

9. omg. Peace to his family

[Blue Owl]

11. Gives credence to the saying "Hell is other people"

n/t

[hlthe2b]

25. A devastating story likely to be repeated time after time.

I just got back from Target. Not overwhelmingly crowded, but mainly teens and twenty-somethings--all who pointed and mocked me and one other masked woman. I feel for others in their lives, as I got out my nitrile gloves and donned an ever scarce surgical mask-- recycled countless times and disinfected to the best of my ability from work. (No, I'm not opposed to a well constructed homemade mask but have had no time to make one).

[ffr]

26. Most of us don't consider how our jobs can put our lives in danger

Normally there's an OSHA rule there to protect us, but Covid-19 has turned everything upside down.

This sucks!

[Doodley]

29. The surgeon general who declared there is no need to wear masks. Trump, who

has never clearly laid out the importance of how to cough, of wearing masks and keeping distant. Fox News and right-wing radio who called it a hoax and downplayed the danger of this virus. These are the people who set the example and these are the people who are responsible for the spread of this disease.

[blue-wave]

35. OMG! My heart breaks for his family, friends and co-workers

I am a mass transit employee myself, currently isolated for Covid19 symptoms. Fever, chills, all-over body aches, high temperature, severe fatigue, loss of smell and taste and more. So I know something about what is going on out there. I am livid at the casual dismissal I have received from people who refuse to even listen to the dangers, many dangers, that mass transit people face on a minute by minute basis. Concerning Covid19, I've been told that "oh, you don't have it."

We are unprotected in an enclosed moving metal petri dish with an air system that circulates fresh air, but also circulates the air internally. Some of us have air vents blowing at us and surround us in the buses and trains. Please do not dismiss the sincere concerns of mass transit people. They are forced to work in an extremely dangerous environment and deserve at the very least understanding.

I could go on but I'm too upset right now. We seem to be dropping like flies out there and the emperor can only play his fiddle. America, the America I remember, where are you now?

--I am getting better every day. It's been 2 weeks now in isolation so I'm confident I'll be 100% soon. But you know what? My doctor refused to test me, but isolated me. If I'm not tested I can't be positive, right? The official numbers we see on a daily basis, I'm certain, are not even close to the real numbers due to lack of testing.--


RIP Jason Hargrove, a front-line hero

[SWBTATTReg]

43. Get well soon! Take care of yourself and hopefully, we'll hear back from you when you're good ...

and well. To me, all of you on the front lines are the true heroes.

Thank you for your service.

[flibbitygiblets]

36. Nicole Wallace just showed the video of the bus driver talking about the incident

He seemed like such a good person. How incredibly sad.

[MenloParque]

37. Things are crazy even in blue San Francisco...

In San Francisco two days ago my sister witnessed an incident where a young lady pushed into a man with her shopping cart for coughing out loud without covering his mouth. The man got up and threw a hammer fist to the ladies temple knocking her unconscious. Onlookers just watched the guy leave the store...no one willing to help for fear of catching the virus. Even in the most progressive city in the US fear and panic is taking hold.

[smirkymonkey]

44. Wow! That's insane! He could have killed her.

This is one of the main reasons I have not left my apartment in over 2 weeks. Everything is being delivered to my lobby and I am limiting contact with other human beings as much as possible.

Things are getting crazy out there and people are losing it.

[DarthDem]

39. That's very sad.

Sounds like a good man. RIP, Mr. Hargrove.

[Thekaspervote]

40. MASKS! Even a homemade mask stops droplets. Everyone should be wearing a mask

[uponit7771]

41. Shit

[AdamGG]

42. Mentally ill people are a high percentage of the few people left on the bus now

I work in a hospital and am still riding the bus through Boston. Most of the time there's just 2 or 3 other people on the bus, so it's easy to distance (and remember to not touch anything), but a high percentage of the people left on the buses and the streets are homeless people with problems.

Sure, this woman was horrendous for coughing, but I'm not sure what charges you can bring against a schizophrenic homeless person who is confused and coughs.