A bus driver in America has sadly passed away after contracting coronavirus, less than two weeks after posting a video complaining about a passenger who refused to cover her mouth while coughing.

Jason Hargrove, who was a public bus driver in Detroit, had posted a video on Facebook on 21 March, criticising a woman who boarded his vehicle.

In his eight-minute video, he explained how he felt violated – not just for himself, but also for other passengers on the bus.

He said: “We out here as public workers, doing our jobs, trying to make an honest living to take care of our families, but for you to get on the bus and stand on the bus and cough several times without covering up your mouth … that lets me know that some folks don’t care. Utterly don’t give a f***, excuse my language.”

Urging people tostay home wherever possible, and to take the deadly virus seriously, he continued: “It’s folks dying out here. I’m mad right about now because that s*** was uncalled for. And I’m trying to be the professional that they want me to be, so I kept my mouth closed … I feel violated. I feel violated for the folks that were on the bus when this happened.”

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan confirmed on Thursday 2 April that Hargrove had died.

Duggan said in a press conference: “I don’t know how you can watch it and not tear up. He knew his life was being put in jeopardy, even though he was going to work for the citizens of Detroit every day, but somebody just didn’t care.

“Somebody who didn’t take this seriously and now he’s gone.”

He also encouraged others to watch Hargrove’s poignant Facebook plea, in which the bus driver had begged people: “Y’all be safe. If you ain’t got to go out, don’t go out. If you go, cover up your face, put some gloves on your hands. Please.”

The Amalgamated Transit Union commemorated Hargrove in a statement, saying he had been a member of the union since 2016, and left behind a wife.