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Detroit Bus Driver Dies From Coronavirus Four Days After Posting Video About Passenger Coughing

“You know that we are in the middle of a pandemic that lets me know that some folks don’t care.”

Jason Hargrove, a Detroit bus driver who warned the city in late March about ramping up its response to the coronavirus pandemic after one of his passenger’s was coughing, has reportedly died of the virus. 

Hargrove shared a video on March 21 on how upset he was that a passenger did not take the necessary precautions to cover her mouth to slow the spread of COVID-19, as reported by CNN.

“For us to get through this and get over this, y’all need to take this seriously,” he said. “There’s folks dying out here.” 

Although it is not clear how Hargrove got COVID019, the 50-year-old died four days later on Wednesday evening (April 1). 

“I don’t know how you can watch it and not tear up,” said Mike Duggan, the Mayor of Detroit. “He knew his life was being put in jeopardy even though he was going to work for the citizens of Detroit everyday, by somebody who just didn’t care, somebody who didn’t take this seriously. And now he’s gone.” 

Detroit bus drivers, who had been fed up with the negligence of their passengers toward taking precautions against the novel coronavirus pandemic, staged a walk out on March 17. The president of the bus drivers’ union, Glenn Tolbert, said that drivers see more sick people than any doctor. 

“We are the first responders before the first responders, because we pick up the sick taking them to the hospitals,” he said. 

RELATED: Black People Are Contracting And Dying From Coronavirus At An Alarming Rate, New Data Shows

In the video, Hargrove explains how a woman coughed four to five times without ever attempting to cover her mouth.

“For you to get on a bus and stand on the bus and cough several times without covering up your mouth,” he said. “You know that we are in the middle of a pandemic that lets me know that some folks don’t care.”

Later saying that he was not blaming all of his passengers, and that his anger was directed at the woman and her careless actions. 

The number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases have risen to 14,225 in Michigan as of Saturday (April 4) with the death toll reaching 540

For the latest on the coronavirus, check out BET’s blog on the virus, and contact your local health department or visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

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