A US bus driver has died of coronavirus just days he posted a video about being exposed to a passenger's coughing.
The 50-year-old had posted the clip on Facebook complaining about the woman he said was openly coughing aboard his bus in the city of Detroit, Michigan.
Jason Hargrove died on Wednesday, the head of Detroit's bus drivers' union confirmed, according to the Detroit News.
In his March 21 Facebook post, Mr Hargrove complained about the passenger coughing on his bus without covering her mouth despite it being a key symptom of the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic.
The bus driver described the woman as appearing to be in her 50s or 60s.
"This is real," Mr Hargrove said in the clip. "Y'all need to take this serious."
"She stood up there and coughed ... never covered up her mouth... I feel violated. I feel violated for the people that were on the bus."
In the clip, Mr Hargrove claims there were about eight other passengers aboard during the incident.
He described himself and other drivers as "out here as public workers doing our jobs trying to make an honest living ... trying to take care of our families."
"I ain't blaming nobody — nobody. Not the city, not the mayor, not the department, not the State of Michigan, not the government, nobody, not the president," he said.
"I blame that woman who stood on this (expletive) bus and coughed ... it's her fault. It's people like her who don't take (the virus) for real while this still exists and is still spreading."
Detroit's Amalgamated Transit Union said Mr Hargrove started feeling unwell on March 25, four days after the incident on his bus, and died a week later.
His death had left his fellow bus drivers scared, the union's boss Glenn Tolbert said.
"They're obviously scared. They're up in arms. It's the fear of the unknown."
He added that drivers were worried about catching the deadly virus, despite measures being introduced that were designed to protect them.
The safety measures came in shortly after Mr Hargrove posted his video about the coughing incident.
The measures reportedly include making passengers enter and exit the buses through the rear doors and practicing distancing of 10ft between people aboard.
Local media report that Detroit's Mayor Mike Duggan has urged everyone in the United States to watch Mr Hargrove's video, upon learning of the driver's tragic death.
The city leader said he did not believe drivers should be put at risk.
Mr Duggan said: "If you haven't seen Jason Hargrove's post on Facebook, everybody in Detroit and everybody in America should watch it. He was infected before we closed the front doors. Some of his language is graphic, but I don't know how you can watch it and not tear up. He knew his life was being put in jeopardy ... now he's gone."
"Mr Hargrove posted about his health and safety concerns before the front doors on buses were shut to boost safety measures, and it's something I'm going to think about for a long time."
Figures collated by Reuters show there have been 5,887 coronavirus deaths recorded in the United States so far, and 243,635 confirmed cases.
