NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Bahamas Power and Light Company (BPL) has confirmed an additional five employees have become infected with COVID-19.
The power provider confirmed a contractor working at the Clifton Pier Power Station tested positive for COVID-19 on Aug 10.
Following that report, BPL said employee “who left work with an unrelated illness, without experiencing any COVID-related symptoms, decided to test and was found positive”.
“Contact tracing and testing sparked by this discovery resulted in the four new cases,” the statement continued.
“Those employees are home for the required 14-day isolation period as they recover.
“So far, seven other persons have been tested, and their results came back negative.”
BPL said the health and safety of its employees remains its first priority.
It said it was carefully following the health guidelines provided by the Ministry of Health and the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in addition to its internal guidelines to arrest transmission of the virus.
“We have enhanced our deep cleaning, fumigating and sanitization schedules and have adapted our daily operations to adjust for more stringent practices to promote safety of employees and our customers,” BPL said.
“Those adjusted practices include immediately increasing employing remote work and meeting mechanisms, minimizing the number of employees reporting to work in the E. Coburn Sands Building for a period of one week beginning August 17, 2020.”
As of Sunday, there were 1,315 confirmed cases in The Bahamas.
Several government buildings and quasi-government agencies closed last week for deep cleaning following incidents of exposure to COVID-19.
Among them were, the Ministry of Works on Thompson Boulevard, the Ministry of Health’s headquarters on Meeting Street, and the Public Hospitals Authority’s corporate offices on Third and West Terraces.
Prime Minister Hubert Minnis and Minister of Finance K Peter Turnquest have both entered voluntary self-quarantine after a COVID-19 exposure was reported at the Cecil Wallace-Whitfield Centre.
According to the Office of the Prime Minister, contact tracing has revealed that Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis was not a direct contact of the COVID-19 case that led to the closure of the building.
A spokesperson said Minnis was not required to take a COVID-19 test.
The Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas headquarters was also closed on Saturday for deep cleaning and sanitization after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19.
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