The number of active onsite cases of COVID-19 at the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management sites fell this week, according to a spokesperson for the cleanup office.
There were 162 active cases of the virus among Environmental Management (EM) and contractor staff who don’t telework, the spokesperson said in a Thursday email. That is 37 less than the prior week’s total of 199 and also less than the 180 reported two weeks ago.
Meanwhile, counties that surround a handful of DOE nuclear cleanup worksites in California, Kentucky, Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee were all listed as having “high” local transmission rates of coronavirus 19, according to figures posted Friday on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website.
The CDC website listings are based upon data submitted by health departments in the states and the District of Columbia. Current DOE policy requires wearing of approved masks indoors in those localities with high community rates.
The CDC announced Thursday it was streamlining its COVID-19 guidance with the goal of making it easier for the public to grasp. One change, according to the CDC press release, is that people with up-to-date vaccinations need not quarantine if exposed to someone with the virus but “w ear a high-quality mask for 10 days and get tested on day 5.”
Here is a state-by-state rundown of community rates, according to CDC:
- California: Alameda County. (Livermore National Laboratory) remained high, as did Ventura County (Santa Susana Field Laboratory).
- District of Columbia: (DOE headquarters) was medium.
- Georgia: Richmond County (Savannah River) was medium.
- Idaho: Bonneville County, Idaho (Idaho National Laboratory) was low.
- Kentucky: Fayette County (Lexington project office) remained high as did McCracken County (Paducah Site).
- Nevada: Nye County (Nevada National Security Site) was low.
- New Mexico: Eddy County (Waste Isolation Pilot Plant) medium, likewise Los Alamos County (Los Alamos National Laboratory) low.
- New York: Cattaraugus County (West Valley Demonstration Project) remained low.
- Ohio: Pike County (Portsmouth Site) remained high as did Hamilton County (Cincinnati-based Consolidated Business Center).
- South Carolina: Aiken County was high as was Barnwell County (Savannah River Site).
- Tennessee: Anderson County and Roane County both rose to high (Oak Ridge Site).
- Utah: Grand County (Moab Tailings) improved was low.
- Washington: Benton County was low and Franklin County medium (Hanford Site).
