There were no positive COVID-19 test results at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant last week after weeks of double-digit increases throughout fall and winter during the peak of the pandemic.
The latest report which covered May 13 to 18 marked the ninth week in a row with either single-digit or zero caseloads were reported, records show.
In the entire month of April, only six cases were reported as New Mexico and the southeast region of the state where WIPP is situated appeared recovering from the health crisis that swept the nation and state starting in March 2020 and continuing to spread through the rest of last year and early 2021.
COVID-19 continued its presence at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant last month and in early May but infections appeared to be slowing with less than five reported weekly since the start of April.
Six cases of COVID-19 were reported at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant throughout the entire month of April, with two reported so far in May, records show.
The latest report from Nuclear Waste Partnership (NWP) – the primary operations contractor at WIPP – showed two cases between May 6 and 13, bringing the nuclear waste repository’s total caseload to 275 infections since the pandemic first struck New Mexico in March 2020.
Another infection was reported on April 30.