The Energy Department’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico on Monday reported its second confirmed case of COVID-19.
An employee of subcontractor Constructors Inc. received a positive test for the novel coronavirus 2019 on Friday, DOE and WIPP prime Nuclear Waste Partnership said in a Facebook post.
The worker developed symptoms, which can include a bad cough or high fever, during the week of May 4 and was subsequently asked by his employer to self-quarantine and get tested for the virus.
Constructors Inc., which has a master service contract for various construction and maintenance tasks at WIPP, has quarantined members of the same work crew, according to the social media release. The notice did not say how many people were on the crew.
No one from the crew has been at WIPP since May 11. “Currently, none of the employees from the work crew are showing symptoms, but they will be tested for COVID-19 today and continue to quarantine,” according to the DOE post.
Based in Carlsbad, with other offices in New Mexico and Texas, Constructors has a background in road paving and other building projects, including work for WIPP and the National Enrichment Facility in Eunice, N.M., according to the firm’s website.
Nuclear Waste Partnership and the DOE Carlsbad Field Office said they continue to follow precautions advocated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for minimizing the spread of the virus.
Officials at the transuranic waste disposal site announced April 24 that an employee for Carlsbad Technical Assistance contractor North Wind had tested positive for COVID-19.
