Another 16 workers at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state informed management Monday they have tested positive for the coronavirus.
The latest COVID-19 cases were disclosed on the emergency operations website run by contractor Mission Support Alliance at the former plutonium production complex.
The unofficial tally of cases is now 244 based largely upon updates posted on the website for the 586-square mile complex that employs 11,000 federal and contract workers. In a memo posted online last month, the DOE’s manager at Hanford, Brian Vance, urged staffers to maintain their vigilance for mask-wearing and social distancing and not to succumb to “COVID-19 fatigue.”
There were 298 active COVID cases across the DOE Office of Environmental Management complex last week, up 23 from the Nov. 19 total of 275, a spokesperson said Monday. In October the number of active cases being reported by the cleanup office was still in double-digits.
As of deadline Tuesday morning, there are roughly 13.5 million cases of COVID-19 and 268,000 virus-related deaths in the United States, according to a Johns Hopkins University online tracker that compiles data from government health agencies across the country.
