The National Nuclear Security Administration racked up more than 200 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 this week, but recoveries again outpaced new infections, with vaccinations continuing throughout the enterprise.
As of Friday the semiautonomous Department of Energy nuclear weapons agency had 604 active cases of the disease caused by the coronavirus that broke out in Wuhan, China, just over a year ago. This week, 463 people recovered from their bouts with the disease, an agency spokesperson from headquarters in Washington said.
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has so far tracked 4,594 cumulative, confirmed cases of COVID-19 among its federal employees and contractors since the pandemic reached the U.S. a little less than a year ago. That includes 10 fatal cases.
The three NNSA nuclear weapons laboratories, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico and California, all were designated as points of distribution for the vaccine. Only Sandia and Los Alamos have started vaccinations.
The Nevada National Security Site had given doses to some 800 employees, a spokesperson said Friday.
At the Kansas City National Security site, which is not a point of distribution, some employees have gotten doses, but the site has declined to say how many.
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: 249 (+17). Livermore is the only lab that does not test its own employees. A spokesperson said the laboratory has been designated as a point of distribution for vaccines but has not yet received any doses.
Los Alamos National Laboratory:
Cases: 726 (584 people who got sick recovered, while two died). Los Alamos has started vaccinations, but a spokesperson declined to say how many personnel there had received doses.
Internal tests: 13,499 (a lab spokesperson said Friday these on-site tests have resulted in 227 positive results).
Teleworking: Roughly 70% of all employees. Los Alamos is slowly bringing more people back on site after scaling back on-site operations in November, when a nationwide surge caused cases in New Mexico to soar.
Sandia National Laboratories:
Cases: 678 (Sandia started vaccinations the week of Jan. 11. A spokesperson declined to say how many personnel there had received doses, but did say that employees vaccinated so far have only received the first of two doses necessary for immunization.
Internal tests: 8,887.
Teleworking: Roughly 55% to 60% of all employees.
Editor’s note, 01/29/2021 Eastern time: the story was updated with figures from a Sandia National Laboratories Spokesperson.
