Random tests for COVID-19 infection are now mandatory for personnel reporting to work at the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, according to a recent note to personnel.
Essentially, anyone on-site, including subcontractors, could be scheduled for a test by the lab’s Occupational Medicine department. “Participation in the testing program is mandatory … and is a condition of employment,” the undated note from May reads.
Anybody selected for a random COVID-19 test will get a few days notice, according to the lab. Random tests will focus on workers in essential national security jobs, and those who are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, the lab said.
OccMed will administer the tests on-site in the drive-through testing area established in the second week of May, when Los Alamost began performing and processing tests for the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus that broke out in Wuhan, China, last year. Tests typically involve deep nasal swabs.
“The Laboratory is conducting COVID-19 tests to help protect the health and safety of its workforce while at the Laboratory,” a Los Alamos spokesperson wrote Tuesday in an email. “Participation is mandatory and we anticipate full cooperation from our employees.”
All throughout the pandemic, the lab has continued, albeit at a sometimes-slower pace than usual, to expand the Plutonium Facility, which by 2024 is supposed to produce war-ready plutonium-pits for future W87-1 warheads to be carried on Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Around 12,500 people, including subcontractors and construction workers, work at Los Alamos, although the vast majority of those are no longer on-site because of COVID-19. During May, the lab wanted to perform and process about 400 COVID-19 tests per week, according to another communique to employees.