5 At Beaver County Cracker Plant Test Positive For Coronavirus; Shell Ready To Increase Workforce Next Week
BEAVER COUNTY, Pa. (KDKA) -- Five workers at the Shell cracker plant in Beaver County have recently tested positive for coronavirus.
On Thursday, Shell said 18 workers have tested positive since the beginning of the pandemic.
Earlier this month, KDKA's Paul Martino reported that Beaver County Commissioner Daniel Camp was concerned after a ninth employee at the plant tested positive.
Despite a growing number of cases, Shell says it has no plans to halt construction on the multi-billion-dollar plant.
Shell to resume adding workers to cracker site after month and a half freeze. 5 workers have recently tested positive for Covid19 but the oil giant cites safeguards and new onsite testing facility. @KDKA Details at 11. pic.twitter.com/if7z5SqzJL
— Andy Sheehan (@AndySheehankdka) July 17, 2020
Shell now plans on adding workers to the site next week after a month-and-a-half freeze. The company says it has a coronavirus testing lab at the site to "allow for ready testing to be done on workers who may show symptoms or may have had close contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case."
Workers are tested, sent home and receive results in about four hours, Shell says.
Shell insists it is taking several steps to make the plant safe, including following CDC and Pa. Department of Health guidelines, social distancing, mandatory masks, sanitizing stations, temperature screenings and plastic dividers in the lunchroom.