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Police officers walk through Victoria station in central London on March 24.
Police officers walk through Victoria station in central London on March 24. Wiktor Szymanowicz/Barcroft Media/Getty Images

A British railway ticket office worker has died from Covid-19 after being spat on while she was working at Victoria station, in central London, her union, the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA), revealed on Tuesday.

Belly Mujinga, 47, had an underlying health condition and on March 22nd she and a colleague were on shift, on the concourse by the ticket office for Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), when a member of the public assaulted them, spat and coughed over them and told the two that he had the novel coronavirus. Mujinga died two weeks later on April 5.

According to TSSA, Mujinga and her colleague pleaded for police to be called onto the scene. In a statement to CNN, British Transport Police said they have now launched an investigation into the incident.

“Enquiries are ongoing,” it added in the statement.

“Belly and her colleague begged to be let to work from inside the building with a protective barrier between them and the public for the rest of that day. Management said they needed people working outside and sent them back out onto the concourse for the rest of their shift,” the union said in its statement on Tuesday, adding that both women went back outside and completed their shift. “They had no PPE.”

Mujinga had underlying respiratory problems for which she had had an operation, regular hospital appointments and had previously needed to take time off work, according to TSSA. The association says GTR knew about her condition and, even after the incident, only stood Mujinga down after her doctor called her work around March 25.

GTR is investigating the accusations, it said in a statement to CNN on Tuesday.

“The safety of our customers and staff, who are key workers themselves, continues to be front of mind at all times and we follow the latest Government advice,” Angie Doll, Managing Director, Southern Railway and Gatwick Express said in the statement. “We take any allegations extremely seriously, and we are investigating these claims.”

Both Mujinga and her colleague fell ill from Covid-19 within days of the assault, according to TSSA. On April 2, just 11 days after the incident, Mujinga was taken to Barnet Hospital in an ambulance and put on a ventilator.

The TSSA also reported the incident to the Railways Inspectorate, which is the safety arm of the Office for Road and Rail (ORR). A spokesperson for the ORR told CNN on Monday the office was investigating the incident.

TSSA revealed Mujinga’s story as the British Government urged some people to return to work if they are not able do it from home, easing some of the restrictions it had put in place to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.

“Rather than talking about the easing the lockdown, the government must first ensure that the right precautions and protections have been taken so that more lives are not lost,” TSSA’s Cortes said. “Our rail industry needs to have a very serious look at what tasks are deemed ‘essential’ and must put protections in place for all our members and our passengers.”

The TSSA also called on the Government to implement additional measures to compensate frontline workers from the railway industry for their work during these difficult times.

source: cnn.com