COVID-19 cases continued to accumulate at the waste isolation pilot plant, a nuclear waste depot near Carlsbad, as the pandemic gave the impression that it was looming in southeastern New Mexico.
Four staff members of the Nuclear Waste Partnership, the contractor who oversees the facility’s day-to-day operations, reportedly tested positive for the virus on Monday after receiving the effects of their testing on Saturday.
Three of the workers had already been quarantined due to imaginable exposure to the virus and had not been on the WIPP site since 30 July, according to a WIPP press release.
The evidence was asymptomatic, according to the statement.
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The fourth employee announced Monday was quarantined after becoming ill and was not at the facility since Aug. 6.
The tenth WIPP worker, who also worked for the Nuclear Waste Partnership, tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday and the fourth positive case at the facility last week.
The worker already became ill, according to a WIPP press release, and got a positive result in virus control on Friday night.
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Contract tracking and disinfection protocols were observed after the announcement, reading.
“As always, wiPP’s suitability and protection of the painters’ body remains the most sensible priority of the Department of Waste and Nuclear Energy Association, and WIPP continues to work with all subcontractors to ensure that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) governs are followed.” read a WIPP STATEMENT.
Including recent announcements, 14 WIPP subcontractors have tested COVID-19 since April 10, adding 10 in nuclear Waste Partnership.
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Last Friday, WIPP announced that two Nuclear Waste Partnership workers had tested positive, one on Wednesday and Thursday.
Earlier last week, on August 3, WIPP announced that the third case of a Nuclear Waste Association had tested positive, following the contractor’s momentary case on July 21.
The first case of a Nuclear Waste Partnership worker tested positive in June.
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On July 8, a worker from CAST Specialty Trucking who worked for WIPP at a Carlsbad trucking terminal reported a positive case. The employee was reported to not have regular interaction with WIPP personnel.
Two of WIPP’s subcontractors were reported in May, one at Constructors Inc. and one in Granite Construction.
The first positive CASE with WIPP reported through a worker from the Carlsbad Technical Assistance Contractor (CTAC) North Wind Portage in April.
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The COVID-19 global pandemic continued to accumulate in New Mexico and the southeast corner of the state, with 205 new cases reported statewide on Sunday and 4 new deaths.
In total, New Mexico has reported 22315 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic in the state in March with a death toll of 685.
Eddy County recorded 8 new cases, and Lea County reported 26, the third number among New Mexico counties on Sunday.
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The WIPP is near the border of Eddy-Lea County.
Bernalillo County has recorded new cases, according to the most recent results, and 30 have been reported in Doa Ana County.
Two women, one in their 90s and one in their 50s, Bernalillo were pronounced dead by the virus, as a 60-year-old man in McKinely County, northwestern New Mexico.
A woman in her 30s from San Juan County also died from the disease, records show.
North and northwestern New Mexico continued to lead the state with 5,136 total coVID-19s reported in Bernalillo County, 4,046 in McKinley and 3,044 in San Juan.
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But the region appears to be slowing down with only three new cases at McKinley on Sunday and five in San Juan.
On Sunday, 121 other people were hospitalized statewide and 9,319 cases were designated as cured.
Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, [email protected] or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.