A at the waste isolation pilot plant tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday as the pandemic continued to spread in southeastern New Mexico.
The worker who tested positive Thursday night is a nuclear Waste Partnership worker, the contractor who oversees the day-to-day operations of the nuclear tea depot near Carlsbad, and who last showed up at the WIPP site on August 2.
On Thursday, another five at the waste isolation pilot plant reportedly tested positive for COVID-19.
Four of the recent positive effects come from nuclear Waste Partnership, the contractor who oversees WIPP’s day-to-day operations, while the fifth is a worker in environmental regulation services.
Two of the inflamed workers had already been quarantined due to imaginable exposure to the virus and were last notified at the WIPP site on 2 August.
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The other three workers were in last place between 4 and 6 August, according to a WiPP press release on Thursday.
Recent patients won their overdue check effects on Wednesday night, read the press release.
The nuclear waste depot near Carlsbad has noticed a build-up of positive virus cases in recent weeks, and Thursday’s announcement raised the total number of cases among facility-related personnel to 20.
In addition: four others at the waste insulation pilot plant tested positive for COVID-19 for a total of 1 four
This includes 15 positive cases in the Nuclear Waste Partnership, while two of the patients were recovering, according to the release.
“All touch and disinfection protocols are complete,” reads in a WIPP statement. “Employees who may have been in prolonged contact with inflamed have been informed and quarantined.”
On Monday, 4 other nuclear waste associations reportedly tested positive after receiving its effects last Saturday.
In addition: WIPP operations continue amid the pandemic, peak coVID-19 instances at the facility
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 fourth worker announced Monday that he was quarantined after falling ill and had not been at the facility since August 6.
On August 7, 3 nuclear Waste Partnership workers tested positive for COVID-19.
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On August 3, WIPP announced the third case of Nuclear Waste Partnership employees, following the contractor’s case on July 21 and June 1.
On July 8, a CAST Specialty Trucking employee working for WIPP from the Carlsbad truck terminal tested positive, but had no normal contact with other WIPP employees.
Two cases of WIPP subcontractors were reported in May, one from Constructors Inc and granite Construction.
The first positive case related to WIPP in April, when a worker from the Carlsbad Technical Assistance Contractor (CTAC) North Wind Portage reported that it was inflamed with the virus.
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On Thursday, New Mexico Fitness announced 177 new coVID-19 instances across the state, with two deaths.
The state also reported that 9,980 COVID-19 patients had recovered from the virus and that 128 others had been hospitalized.
Eddy County had 15 new cases, while Lea County had 14 cases. WIPP is near the border of Eddy-Lea County.
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Bernalillo County led the state in new with 38, followed by 21 in Dona Ana County and 19 in Chaves County.
Bernalillo led the state overall with 5,264 instances on Thursday, followed by McKinley with 4,087 instances and St. John’s 3,072.
The overall workload in Eddy County 350 positive tests on COVID-19 and Lea County had 876.
A County of McKinley, in his 30s, has been told he died of the virus, along with an 80-year-old Rio Up county.
Both had underlying fitness problems, according to a New Mexico Department of Health press.
Adrian Hedden can be contacted at 575-628-5516, [email protected] or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.