The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state rose to four as of Wednesday, one more than a week ago.
Most of the four infected individuals have “not been on site for several weeks,” DOE Hanford Site Manager Brian Vance said in a post on Facebook. No further details were available early Thursday morning.
Vance said on-site staffing at the former plutonium production complex will remain at dramatically reduced levels through next week. The vast majority of Hanford’s roughly 11,000 employees have been either teleworking or receiving paid leave since the site entered essential mission critical operations on March 24.
Also Wednesday, the Energy Department said all 13 personnel at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina known to have been infected by novel coronavirus 2019 “have made a full recovery.”
Like Hanford, most of Savannah River’s 11,000 federal and contract workers are either teleworking or receiving paid leave. Both sites say planning continues for a gradual return to more on-site staffing, with modifications made to increase hand washing, increase physical distancing, and reduce face-to-face contact on the jobsite.
Neither site, nor DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, have publicly revealed actual dates when large number of staffers will start returning inside the fence.
An informal count around the 16 snuclear cleanup sites overseen by Environmental Management indicate there are at least 24 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection. Anecdotal evidence suggests most have recovered and returned to work – at least remotely.
