About 500 employees of Atlanta-based Delta Airlines have tested positive for coronavirus.

The CEO Ed Bastian, confirmed this during the company’s annual shareholder meeting.

He added that ten employees have also died from the virus.

Bastian said, “We lost ten employees to the Coronavirus, every one of them breaks my heart.

“Among other 500 employees who contracted the virus, the vast majority have recovered.”

He added that the airline is testing its approximately 90,000 employees for COVID-19 would provide better protection for our people and then, eventually, certainly, our customers as we go forward.”

Speaking on the economic impact of the Coronavirus pandemic, Bastian said the aviation industry has been hit badly.

“We shut operations in 10airports since May until at least September.

“We could never have predicted how quickly the coronavirus pandemic would upend our plans as demand for near-term air travel dropped to almost zero in a matter of weeks,” he added.

According to him, it could take two to three years to recover revenue and return to a new level of normal as it is so uncertain.