By Steve Neavling

ticklethewire.com

A TSA screener at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the third employee from the agency to die from the coronavirus.

Dian Phipps was a security screener, and he had worked for the TSA for 14 years.

More than 400 TSA employees, including screeners and nonscreeners, have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the agency. So far, 45 of them have recovered.

The screeners worked at more than two dozens airports across the country. At John F. Kennedy International, where 162 TSA employees have tested positive, has been hit the hardest. At Newark Liberty International, 80 TSA workers have confirmed infections. Nearly 50 TSA workers from Louis Armstrong New Orleans International have tested positive.

TSA workers, especially screeners, are especially vulnerable because they have a lot of contact with the public.