The Energy Department’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina on Wednesday confirmed its sixth case of COVID-19, but noted that three previously infected employees have recovered and returned to work.
The three others “are being monitored for a return to work within a week,” according to the press release from DOE’s office at Savannah River.
As is typical of such announcements, the Energy Department did not reveal if the latest case involved a federal worker or employee of a contractor.
Savannah River management also noted governors in South Carolina and Georgia have extended previously enacted orders restricting travel through April 27 and April 30, respectively. Located in the city of Aiken, adjacent to the Georgia-South Carolina line, SRS draws its 11,000-person workforce from both states.
Fewer than 2,500 employees are currently working on-site at the DOE facility, with most of the remaining workforce telecommuting.
Precautions implemented by the SRS operations office include weekly chemical cleaning of common workspaces, temperature checks of employees prior to reporting to certain areas, continued use of social distancing, use of clear plexiglass shields at interaction areas such as badge stations, and moving some required training courses online, according to the release.
Savannah River houses operations overseen by both DOE’s Office of Environmental Management and the semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration. As of Wednesday, there were 10 confirmed cases within the nuclear cleanup complex and roughly 50 within the NNSA nuclear sites.
