By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Construction at the Raiders stadium site is moving ahead after a second worker at the 62.5-acre site tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Las Vegas stadium authority, the public panel working with the Raiders on the $1.97 billion stadium project.
More than 1,000 workers are doing a variety of tasks at Allegiant Stadium, which is scheduled to be ready July 31. The 65,000-seat domed stadium has scheduled events for a Garth Brooks concert Aug. 22 and a UNLV-California college football game Aug. 29.
Like the first stadium worker who tested positive for the coronavirus last month, the second construction workers who tested for the virus went home and is isolating after the area he worked in was sterilized. Mortenson-McCarthy is working together as the general contractor.
Here’s the stadium statement:
April 8, 2020
Allegiant Stadium
Statement on Worker with COVID-19
Mortenson/McCarthy was notified last night that a worker on the Allegiant Stadium project tested positive for COVID-19. The individual, who was not in close contact with other workers pursuant to safe distancing protocols, was on-site for one week and left the job site on April 2 prior to experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. The individual is now in self-isolation and will not return to work until cleared to do so.
Mortenson/McCarthy previously implemented stringent cleaning protocols on the project consistent with CDC guidelines. In accordance with those protocols, the area where the worker had been assigned, and the surrounding vicinity, was immediately shut down and sanitized. Work continues in other areas of the project that remain unaffected.
Mortenson/McCarthy has the following preventative policies and procedures in place on the project to minimize the risk of coronavirus:
- Strict Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance including directing team members who feel sick or have health-related concerns to stay home
- A verbal health screen of all workers is conducted prior to beginning work on site
- Implementation of social distancing and recommended personal hygiene practices
- Reduced worker concentrations
- Increased sanitation and cleaning throughout the project site including high traffic areas, which are sanitized multiple times per day. Those areas are further monitored to ensure appropriate social distancing. Hand wash stations and sanitizers are available throughout the project site
- Implementation of a COVID-19 Compliance Team to ensure adherence to local, state and national laws/recommendations.
- Staggered start times to minimize the quantity of workers entering the project at the same time.
- Working with customers and trade partners to adjust workflows as necessary
- Implementation of teleconferencing where applicable
- Large group activities were suspended March 16
Our highest priority is the health and safety of our team members, project partners and the community. We will continue to follow guidance issued by the CDC along with local, state, and federal health authorities. We will implement further changes or adjustments as needed to help protect the health and safety of everyone on the project.
Coronavirus health and safety signs were installed at the construction site last week.
Gov. Steve Sisolak said Nevada has 2,318 cases of coronavirus and that 81 people in the state have died from COVID-19. Sisolak said Wednesday all construction is deemed essential because of its importance to the economy.
It’s no secret that Sisolak is also a big Raiders stadium supporter and he enjoyed attending a January event at the site when the team was officially declared the Las Vegas Raiders.
On Wednesday, Sisolak tightened the faucet on social distancing even tighter by ordering sports settings like golf courses, public basketball courts and skate parks closed after he saw photos of people congregating together. My friend Kevin Cannon, a talented photographer of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and a superb bicyclist, took this picture of O.J. Simpson on a local Las Vegas golf course Wednesday morning.
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