There are currently 335 active COVID-19 cases within the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup complex this week, a spokesperson said Thursday.
The number, provided via email by a DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM) spokesperson, is 56 fewer than the prior week’s total of 391 active confirmed cases. It is also well below the 423 from two weeks ago and the 473 the week before that.
The EM spokesperson said none of the Environmental Management contractors is currently a vaccine provider, although several of the larger sites have the ability to provide vaccinations when they become available for the workforce.
“While many of our larger sites, such as Hanford, Savannah River, Oak Ridge, and Los Alamos, have the ability to provide vaccinations when they become available for the workforce, current vaccine designations are only for health care and other essential workers and no EM contractor is currently a vaccine provider,” the EM spokesperson said.
One exception to this general rule is at Hanford where occupational medical contractor, HPM Corp. dispensed the required two doses of Moderna vaccine during January to 100 Hanford workers who also happen to be medical personnel or first responders, a different DOE representative said prior to deadline.
Across the country there is currently far more demand for the COVID-19 vaccine than there is vaccine available, according to media reports. While each state has its own distribution guidelines, shots are typically being given only to those age 65 and over and certain select other vulnerable health groups.
Meanwhile, the number of new cases being disclosed weekly at certain other EM sites appears to be leveling off a bit as well.
On Friday morning, the Savannah River Site in South Carolina reported 163 employees quarantined as a result of COVID-19, which is down 27 from the 190 reported by site management the prior week.
There were six positive tests confirmed at DOE’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico between Jan. 28 and Feb. 3, prime contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership said in a Thursday Facebook post. Likewise, there were also a half-dozen new cases reported in the prior week. Management at the transuranic waste disposal site are monitoring 14 workers who have yet to be cleared to return to work after contracting the virus.
The Waste Isolation Pilot PLant has now confirmed a total of 249 cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began in the United States a little more than a year ago while the Hanford Site in Washington state is up to about 645 cases during the same period.
There were three new cases at Hanford reported to management on Jan. 31, according to a website advisory posted by a DOE contractor at the former plutonium production facility. There appear to have been no additional COVID postings since then.
As of Friday morning, the United States has about 26.7 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 with roughly 456,000 deaths as a result, according to an online tracker overseen by Johns Hopkins University.
