The Chicago Transit Authority has reported that a fifth employee has passed away due to coronavirus complications.
Family members identified the employee as Pedro Gafare. According to CTA officials, Gafare a bus operator who had joined the agency in 2012.
“The entire CTA family extends its heartfelt sympathies to the family, friends, loved ones and colleagues of this dedicated bus operator,” CTA President Dorval Carter Jr. said in a statement. “We will collectively remember and honor this employee’s service and commitment to Chicagoans and our city.”
Shortly after the death was announced, purple bunting was hung over the doors at the CTA’s Kedzie Garage.
At least four other agency employees have passed away as a result of the virus. In late April, an employee who had worked in the technology department for over 20 years passed away after contracting the illness. A machinist at the agency’s maintenance facility was the first reported fatality of the virus, while a bus driver and a bus mechanic passed away within two days of one another in mid-April.
