Amtrak scales back schedule amid spike in COVID-19 among employees

Amtrak will reduce its service between Friday and Jan. 6 as it grapples with a rising number of COVID-19 cases among workers and poor weather conditions, according to The Washington Post.

Among the affected routes include four trains between Washington and Springfield, Mass., overnight trains between Newport News, Va. and Boston and several trains between New York and New Orleans, among others.

The Post said that the cancellations for that week compromised 1.5 percent of its scheduled trains. 

“Amtrak regrets any inconvenience,” the service said in a statement, according to the Post. “We are continuing to monitor changing conditions and will make any further adjustments as required.”

Amtrak earlier this month said it would cut back services due to the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for federal contractors that would have required Amtrak employees to have their shots in January — despite about 97 percent of its workforce being vaccinated. 

However, in mid-December, Amtrak decided to suspend its vaccine mandate as the federal requirement was temporarily halted amid legal battles. 

Other transit companies are also suffering service setbacks due to a rising number of COVID-19 cases amid the spread of the omicron variant and poor weather conditions.

Several thousand flights were canceled between Sunday, Monday and Tuesday as coronavirus infections led to a shortage of staff. Airline cancellations were also experienced on Christmas Eve, disrupting holiday plans.

Amid fears that staff shortages could reduce essential services, as they did early on in the pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) changed isolation and quarantine guidelines on Monday, allowing those who do not show symptoms to cut their isolation period in half.

Some health experts have already criticized the updated CDC guidance, including pointing out that it does not including a testing requirement. However, White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci defended the new guidance on Thursday. 

The Hill has reached out to Amtrak for comment.