Another nine employees at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington Site reported Tuesday they have tested positive for the novel coronavirus 2019.
This notification on the Hanford website came after the Energy Department confirmed eight new cases of COVID-19 within the workforce at the former plutonium production complex on Monday, plus seven over the weekend.
Based on anecdotal reports, there are at least 56 infections among Hanford’s 11,000-member federal and contractor workforce since the pandemic began. The Energy Department itself does not provide total numbers.
The website provided no additional information on the infected workers, such as whether they were tested because they were feeling ill.
The reports of confirmed cases at the site typically come after groups of people are tested as they return to work on-site. Hanford, along with most other DOE Office of Environmental Management nuclear cleanup sites, used minimal on-site staffing between late March and late May in order to slow the spread of the virus. Hanford is currently in Phase 1 of the DOE restart plan, which involves bring back key personnel and workers employed in low-risk jobs. Most, however, continue to either telework or collect paid leave.
Nationally, Washington state ranks No. 21 among the 50 states, with more than 56,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Benton County and Franklin County, which surround the Hanford complex, are two of the hardest hit counties in the state, respectively with roughly 3,300 cases and 3,100 cases confirmed at deadline.
Before the latest outburst at Hanford, the DOE Office of Environmental Management confirmed 94 active cases within its 16 nuclear cleanup complexes.
