diff --git a/tests/perf/microbenchmarks/reads/test_reads.py b/tests/perf/microbenchmarks/reads/test_reads.py
index 13a0a49b3..324938e94 100644
--- a/tests/perf/microbenchmarks/reads/test_reads.py
+++ b/tests/perf/microbenchmarks/reads/test_reads.py
@@ -300,44 +300,46 @@ def target_wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
     )
 
 
-def _download_files_worker(files_to_download, other_params, chunks, bucket_type):
-    # For regional buckets, a new client must be created for each process.
-    # For zonal, the same is done for consistency.
+# --- Global Variables for Worker Process ---
+worker_loop = None
+worker_client = None
+worker_json_client = None
+
+
+def _worker_init(bucket_type):
+    """Initializes a persistent event loop and client for each worker process."""
+    global worker_loop, worker_client, worker_json_client
     if bucket_type == "zonal":
-        loop = asyncio.new_event_loop()
-        asyncio.set_event_loop(loop)
-        client = loop.run_until_complete(create_client())
-        try:
-            # download_files_using_mrd_multi_coro returns max latency of coros
-            result = download_files_using_mrd_multi_coro(
-                loop, client, files_to_download, other_params, chunks
-            )
-        finally:
-            tasks = asyncio.all_tasks(loop=loop)
-            for task in tasks:
-                task.cancel()
-            loop.run_until_complete(asyncio.gather(*tasks, return_exceptions=True))
-            loop.close()
-        return result
+        worker_loop = asyncio.new_event_loop()
+        asyncio.set_event_loop(worker_loop)
+        worker_client = worker_loop.run_until_complete(create_client())
     else:  # regional
         from google.cloud import storage
 
-        json_client = storage.Client()
+        worker_json_client = storage.Client()
+
+
+def _download_files_worker(files_to_download, other_params, chunks, bucket_type):
+    if bucket_type == "zonal":
+        # The loop and client are already initialized in _worker_init.
+        # download_files_using_mrd_multi_coro returns max latency of coros
+        return download_files_using_mrd_multi_coro(
+            worker_loop, worker_client, files_to_download, other_params, chunks
+        )
+    else:  # regional
         # download_files_using_json_multi_threaded returns max latency of threads
         return download_files_using_json_multi_threaded(
-            None, json_client, files_to_download, other_params, chunks
+            None, worker_json_client, files_to_download, other_params, chunks
         )
 
 
-def download_files_mp_mc_wrapper(files_names, params, chunks, bucket_type):
-    num_processes = params.num_processes
+def download_files_mp_mc_wrapper(pool, files_names, params, chunks, bucket_type):
     num_coros = params.num_coros  # This is n, number of files per process
 
     # Distribute filenames to processes
     filenames_per_process = [
         files_names[i : i + num_coros] for i in range(0, len(files_names), num_coros)
     ]
-
     args = [
         (
             filenames,
@@ -348,10 +350,7 @@ def download_files_mp_mc_wrapper(files_names, params, chunks, bucket_type):
         for filenames in filenames_per_process
     ]
 
-    ctx = multiprocessing.get_context("spawn")
-    with ctx.Pool(processes=num_processes) as pool:
-        results = pool.starmap(_download_files_worker, args)
-
+    results = pool.starmap(_download_files_worker, args)
     return max(results)
 
 
@@ -386,10 +385,16 @@ def test_downloads_multi_proc_multi_coro(
         logging.info("randomizing chunks")
         random.shuffle(chunks)
 
+    ctx = multiprocessing.get_context("spawn")
+    pool = ctx.Pool(
+        processes=params.num_processes,
+        initializer=_worker_init,
+        initargs=(params.bucket_type,),
+    )
     output_times = []
 
     def target_wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
-        result = download_files_mp_mc_wrapper(*args, **kwargs)
+        result = download_files_mp_mc_wrapper(pool, *args, **kwargs)
         output_times.append(result)
         return output_times
 
@@ -407,6 +412,8 @@ def target_wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
                 ),
             )
     finally:
+        pool.close()
+        pool.join()
         publish_benchmark_extra_info(benchmark, params, true_times=output_times)
         publish_resource_metrics(benchmark, m)
 
diff --git a/tests/system/test_zonal.py b/tests/system/test_zonal.py
index 8019156dd..eb9df582c 100644
--- a/tests/system/test_zonal.py
+++ b/tests/system/test_zonal.py
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ async def _run():
 
     event_loop.run_until_complete(_run())
 
-
+@pytest.mark.skip(reason='Flaky test b/478129078')
 def test_mrd_open_with_read_handle(event_loop, grpc_client_direct):
     object_name = f"test_read_handl-{str(uuid.uuid4())[:4]}"