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TSA Checkpoint Agent At Hartsfield-Jackson Dies From Coronavirus
A 32-year-old TSA checkpoint agent who last worked at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport in mid-March died Monday of the coronavirus.
ATLANTA, GA — A TSA checkpoint agent who recently worked at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport died Monday after contracting COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
Dian Phipps, 32, was employed as a transportation security officer at Hartsfield-Jackson, according to a statement on the agency’s website. He started his career in 2006 as a checkpoint screener, working in the Virgin Islands and Alaska before transferring to Atlanta.
A TSA spokesperson said Tuesday that Phipps last worked at Hartsfield-Jackson on March 16. He was assigned to domestic terminal checkpoint screening operations during his time in Atlanta.
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“His co-workers over the years remember him as a kind and humble person who was always fun to be around, as well as being a talented singer,” the website statement said.
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Information is incomplete about how many workers associated with Hartsfield-Jackson might have tested positive for the coronavirus. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported in late March that three TSA employees at Hartsfield-Jackson had tested positive.
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for Hartsfield-Jackson said that only one employee of the airport’s Department of Aviation had tested positive for the coronavirus, and that person "has recovered fully." Past that, no figures are available for outside contractors and vendors who work at the airport.
The spokesperson added that only mission-critical Hartsfield-Jackson staff are at the airport, with all other employees working from home.
Hartsfield-Jackson is the world’s busiest airport. Under normal pre-pandemic circumstances, about 300,000 passengers pass through it every day.
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