Hi everyone, it’s Kevin. Today is Monday, April 13. (Click here for podcast.)
Since my report on Thursday, there have been six additional COVID 19 cases identified at Electric Boat. These include:
Two cases in Quonset Point including:
• An employee who works in High Bay who was last in the plant on March 25.
• An employee who works in 9A who was last in plant on April 1.
Four cases in Groton including the following:
• An employee who works in building 38 whose last day on site was April 1.
• A tradesperson who works in building 18B/18C who was last on site on April 3.
• An employee who works in the Facilities area on the second floor of building 1 whose last day of work was April 3.
• An employee who works in building 70 whose last day of work was March 27, 2020.
We continue to follow our protocols for notifying employees who may have come in contact with these individuals and for cleaning areas these individuals worked in.
Nine of the 25 cases identified at Electric Boat have been cleared to return to work. I am one of the employees cleared to return, in line with CDC guidance. Per that guidance, I am monitoring my health closely, and I am wearing a mask in the office. I am glad to be back to work and happy to report that, according to the Medical team, the other 17 employees who have tested positive are on the road to recovery and will be back with the rest of the team at EB when they are able.
We were informed of the death of an Electric Boat employee by the employee’s family. We are unable to provide any additional information about the cause of death, but can confirm that this employee was not among the positive COVID-19 cases we are tracking. We offer our sincerest condolences to the employee’s family and friends.
At the end of this week, we will begin distributing surgical masks to all EB employees. Please stay tuned for details on how these will be distributed. And, we’ve begun production of cloth masks internally. Employees from our sail loft, respirator laundry, upholstery shop and our own laggers are working together to produce hundreds of masks for our employees.
Our operations team made some great progress over the weekend by rolling out the 793 boat from building 260. This team includes hundreds of trades personnel. Transfer cars started rolling on Friday morning at 7:00 AM. Despite high winds on Friday, the boat was out of the building by about 10 PM Friday night. The boat is now on the pontoon and the team is making arrangements to lower the pontoon tonight. Congratulations to Pete DiNapoli and the entire 793 team on this significant accomplishment.
We also reached a significant milestone on the Columbia program. All four missile tubes for the UK first article quad pack have now been shipped to the UK in support of the DREADNOUGHT program.
Please continue to monitor your own temperature each morning – if you have a temperature of greater than 100 degrees, do not report to work. Per CDC recommendations, please wear a face covering when you are in the office, as I will be doing. Continue to practice social distancing, wash your hands often, stay hydrated and get rest when you can. And I’ll repeat – please stay home if you are sick.
Thanks for your continued focus on our mission. Be safe and stay healthy.
Kevin
