New COVID-19 cases continued to rise week-to-week in some National Nuclear Security Administration host regions this week, but growth flattened in a few locales and the agency itself saw recoveries outpace new infections for the first time in more than a month.
Even so, the semi-autonomous Department of Energy nuclear-weapon steward tracked a record 350 new confirmed cases this week across its national workforce of contractors and federal employees. For a silver lining, the agency reported 361 recoveries this week, leaving it with fewer active cases overall of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
The agency did not report any fatalities due to COVID-19 this week. There have been seven fatal cases across the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) enterprise to date: two at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, two at the Nevada National Security Site, one at the Sandia National Laboratories and two at the Y-12 National Security Complex.
As the Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) played an occasionally bi-partisan Christmas piano recital in a Senate office building, his home state of Tennessee continued to suffer from skyrocketing cases. For the second week in a row, there were over 20,000 new COVID-19 cases in Tennessee than there were the week before.
California, now the worst-hit state in the union, had nearly 75,000 more new cases this week than last, which although high marked a slowdown, compared with the spike of nearly 130,000 new cases a week ago. Texas, on the other hand, had more than 90,000 new cases than it did last week, marking an uptick relative to more than 25,000 new cases a week ago.
Among the NNSA host states tracked by Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor, only Missouri and New Mexico recorded fewer new cases this week than last week.
National Laboratories Cases
Following are the reported numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases at NNSA nuclear weapons laboratories, and increases relative to the prior week, as provided Friday by the labs.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory:
Cases: 138 (+17). Livermore is the only lab that does not test its own employees.
Los Alamos National Laboratory:
Cases: 457 (+39; 325 people who got sick recovered, while two died).
Internal tests: 11,591 (+744; a lab spokesperson said Friday these on-site tests have resulted in 155 positive results).
Teleworking: Roughly 80% of all employees. Los Alamos started scaling back on-site operations about three weeks ago, when a nationwide surge caused cases in New Mexico to soar.
Sandia National Laboratories:
Did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.
Cases in NNSA Host Regions
Following is Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor’s weekly digest of confirmed COVID-19 cases, including fatal cases, in the host cities, counties and states of NNSA nuclear weapons sites. The figures below are based on cumulative cases recorded since the first confirmed U.S. instance of COVID-19 in January.
Data come from a tracker maintained by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and from select states, counties, and cities, where noted.
The Monitor tracks weekly changes, using the latest data available at deadline, which is sometimes current as of the Wednesday or Thursday before publication.
Testing figures represent the number of tests performed, not the number of people tested.
Missouri – Kansas City National Security Campus
Kansas City
Total confirmed cases: 27,447
Cumulative week-to-week increase: 1,464
Growth (+), or decline (-), in new confirmed cases, compared with prior week: -66
Fatal cases: 326 (+13 from the prior week, two fewer new deaths this week than last week).
Missouri, Statewide:
Total cases: 365,678
Cumulative week-to-week increase: 23,260
Growth (+), or decline (-), in new confirmed cases, compared with prior week: +515
Fatal cases: 4,951 (+407 from the prior week, 21 more new deaths this week than last week).
Testing rate and trend versus last week (↑ or ↓): 55,514 tests per 100,000 people (4% more people tested per 100,000 this week than last (↓), 11% more than three weeks ago(14%(↓)). Rank among NNSA host states: 5/7 — no change, compared with last week.
Cumulative tests performed as of this week, and trend versus last week (↑ or ↓): 3,407,160 (+137,478 from last week (↓); +348,651 in three weeks (↓)).
New Mexico – NNSA Albuquerque, Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Bernalillo County/Albuquerque:
Total confirmed cases: 36,137
Cumulative week-to-week increase: 3,556
Growth (+), or decline (-), in new confirmed cases, compared with prior week: -318
Fatal cases: 460 (+52 from the prior week, two more new deaths this week than last week).
Los Alamos:
Total confirmed cases: 224
Cumulative week-to-week increase: 30
Growth (+), or decline (-), in new confirmed cases, compared with prior week: -2
Fatal cases: 0 (No change from last week, and no confirmed COVID-19 deaths in the county, to date).
Surrounding Counties, Los Alamos (Rio Arriba, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Taos):
Total confirmed cases: 1,941/6,612/6,108/1,032 – 16,676 for the group
Cumulative week-to-week increase for group: 1,604
Growth (+), or decline (-), in new confirmed cases, compared with prior week, for group: -91
Fatal cases for group: 241 (+38 from the prior week, for group; 22 more new deaths this week than last week, for group).
New Mexico, Statewide:
Total cases: 126,045
Cumulative week-to-week increase: 11,314
Growth (+), or decline (-), in new confirmed cases, compared with prior week: -555
Fatal cases: 2,103 (+257 from the prior week, 84 more new deaths this week than last week).
Testing rate and trend versus last week (↑ or ↓): 85,681 tests per 100,000 people (6% more people tested per 100,000 this week than last (↑), 16% more than three weeks ago (↓)). Rank among NNSA host states: 1/7 (highest amount of tests per 100,000) — no change, compared with last week.
Cumulative tests performed as of this week, and trend versus last week (↑ or ↓): 1,796,603 (+103,927 from last week(↑); +249,432 in three weeks (↓)).
Tennessee – Y-12 National Security Complex
Anderson County:
Total confirmed cases: 4,550
Cumulative week-to-week increase: 809
Growth (+), or decline (-), in new confirmed cases, compared with prior week: +307
Fatal cases: 45 (+7 from the prior week, same amount of new deaths this week as last week).
Tennessee, Statewide:
Total cases: 493,230
Cumulative week-to-week increase: 64,257
Growth (+), or decline (-), in new confirmed cases, compared with prior week: +23,536
Fatal cases: 5,845 (+605 from the prior week, 146 more new deaths this week than last week).
Testing rate and trend versus last week (↑ or ↓): 76,097 tests per 100,000 people (7% more people tested per 100,000 this week than last (↑), 16% more than three weeks ago (↑)). Rank among NNSA host states: 2/7 — no change, compared with last week.
Cumulative tests performed as of this week, and trend versus last week (↑ or ↓): 5,196,858 (+354,944 from last week (↑); +707,407 in three weeks (↑)).
California – Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (and Sandia’s California campus)
Alameda County (Including Livermore, Calif.):
Total confirmed cases: 40,751
Cumulative week-to-week increase: 5,704
Growth (+), or decline (-), in new confirmed cases, compared with prior week: +1,637
Fatal cases: 574 (+41 from the prior week, 30 more new deaths this week than last week).
San Joaquin County (near Alameda County):
Total confirmed cases: 35,010
Cumulative week-to-week increase: 4,194
Growth (+), or decline (-), in new confirmed cases, compared with prior week: +461
Fatal cases: 556 (+21 from the prior week, eight fewer new deaths this week than last week).
California, Statewide:
Total cases: 1,759,823
Cumulative week-to-week increase: 271,656
Growth (+), or decline (-), in new confirmed cases, compared with prior week: +74,264
Fatal cases: 22,177 (+1,534 from the prior week, 486 more new deaths this week than last week).
Testing rate and trend versus last week (↑ or ↓): 72,019 tests per 100,000 people (8% more people tested per 100,000 this week than last (no change), 20% more than three weeks ago (↓)). Rank among NNSA host states: 3/7 — no change, compared with last week.
Cumulative tests performed as of this week, and trend versus last week (↑ or ↓): 28,456,358 (+2,132,026 from last week (↑); +4,648,857 in three weeks(↓)).
South Carolina – Savannah River Site
Aiken County:
Total confirmed cases: 7,922
Cumulative week-to-week increase: 751
Growth (+), or decline (-), in new confirmed cases, compared with prior week: +154
Fatal cases: 115 (+6 from the prior week, three fewer new deaths this week than last week).
South Carolina, Statewide:
Total cases: 262,774
Cumulative week-to-week increase: 21,088
Growth (+), or decline (-), in new confirmed cases, compared with prior week: +2,465
Fatal cases: 4,843 (+216 from the prior week, 55 more new deaths this week than last week).
Testing rate and trend versus last week (↑ or ↓): 54,538 tests per 100,000 people (7% more people tested per 100,000 this week than last (no change); 21% more than three weeks ago (↓)). Rank among NNSA host states: 6/7 — no change, compared with last week.
Cumulative tests performed as of this week, and trend versus last week (↑ or ↓): 2,808,022 (+193,786 from last week (↑); +421,435 in three weeks (↓)).
Texas – Pantex Plant
Potter County:
Total confirmed cases: 14,549
Cumulative week-to-week increase: 481
Growth (+), or decline (-), in new confirmed cases, compared with prior week: -261
Fatal cases: 278 (+21 from the prior week, 12 more new deaths this week than last week).
Randall County:
Total confirmed cases: 13,071
Cumulative week-to-week increase: 596
Growth (+), or decline (-), in new confirmed cases, compared with prior week: -239
Fatal cases: 162 (+9 from the prior week, one more new death this week than last week).
Texas, Statewide:
Total cases: 1,552,039
Cumulative week-to-week increase: 177,783
Growth (+), or decline (-), in new confirmed cases, compared with prior week: +90,505
Fatal cases: 25,177 (+1,280 from the prior week, 44 fewer new deaths this week than last week).
Testing rate and trend versus last week (↑ or ↓): 42,916 tests per 100,000 people (6% more people tested per 100,000 this week than last (no change);16% more than three weeks ago (↓)). Rank among NNSA host states: 7/7 (lowest amount of tests per 100,000) — no change, compared with last week.
Cumulative tests performed as of this week, and trend versus last week (↑ or ↓): 12,444,012 (+722,201 from last week (↑); +1,740,335 in three weeks (↓)).
Nevada – Nevada National Security Site
Nye County:
Total confirmed cases: 1,716
Cumulative week-to-week increase: 154
Growth (+), or decline (-), in new confirmed cases, compared with prior week: -39
Fatal cases: 34 (+3 from the prior week, same amount of new deaths this week as last week).
Clark County/Las Vegas:
Total confirmed cases: 148,411
Cumulative week-to-week increase: 13,115
Growth (+), or decline (-), in new confirmed cases, compared with prior week: -318
Fatal cases: 2,094 (+159 from the prior week, 41 more new deaths this week than last week).
Nevada, Statewide:
Total cases: 196,379
Cumulative week-to-week increase: 17,852
Growth (+), or decline (-), in new confirmed cases, compared with prior week: -1,143
Fatal cases: 2,671 (+237 from the prior week, 53 more new deaths this week than last week).
Testing rate and trend versus last week (↑ or ↓): 61,698 tests per 100,000 people (6% more people tested per 100,000 this week than last (no change); 17% more than three weeks ago (↓)). Rank among NNSA host states: 5/7 no change, compared with last week.
Cumulative tests performed as of this week, and trend versus last week (↑ or ↓): 1,900,403 (+112,541 from last week (↑); +273,097 in three weeks(↓)).
Nationwide
Total cases: 17,214,177
Cumulative week-to-week increase: 1,595,492
Growth (+), or decline (-), in new confirmed cases, compared with prior week: +126,135
Fatal cases: 310,792 (+18,600 from the prior week, 2,814 more new deaths this week than last).
Cumulative tests performed as of this week, and trend versus last week (↑ or ↓): 224,523,929 (+11,508,113 from last week (↓). +33,350,898 in three weeks(↓)).
