The Department of Energy confirmed Friday three more cases of COVID-19 among the workforce at its Washington, D.C., headquarters.
Two of those three people had not been in the Forrestal Building in downtown Washington since “early March,” and a third was last on-site on May 22, according to a notice from Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette.
That brings the cumulative total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases at DOE headquarters in the Washington region to at least 16, according to statements posted online since March 18. The count includes people who work at Forrestal and the agency’s satellite building in Germantown, Md.
Some high-ranking DOE and National Nuclear Security Administration officials periodically came to work at headquarters buildings that were largely closed during the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed more than 100,000 people in the United States.
Last month, DOE published its plan for slowly returning federal employees to work at Forrestal and Germantown. The four-phase plan, which hasn’t kicked in yet for nonessential employees, includes strategies piloted at National Nuclear Security Administration nuclear-weapon sites that have stayed open throughout the pandemic: screening based on temperature and recent symptoms; face wear and personnel protective equipment, when available; staggered shifts; and rearranging workspaces to allow for social distancing of at least 6 feet between people.
