Earlier this month, a contract worker at plaquemines'Dow plant tested positive for COVID-19, a spokesman for special welding services (SWS) said. The SWS employee is currently recovering and receiving care at the Ochsner Health System Facility, the company said. The worker is a resident of St. Mary's Parish and works in the diocese of Eberville. In a statement, Dow said that SWS employees infected with the virus were working in only one unit of the plant's LHC facility between March 2 and March 11, and that the risk to others outside the contractor's team was minimal. Both Dow and SWS said all workers in close contact with the worker had been tested for the virus. They'll quarantine themselves until they get all the test results. On March 17th Dow announced its plans. The company said it would not "round up" key personnel at its prakamine plant because of the negative impact on employees and their families. Dow Chemical officials said the company would not close the plant either. However, they will follow the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to ensure employee safety. Dow owns the state's largest petrochemical plant and employs more than 6,000 contract workers. It brings in more than $1 billion a year and plays a vital role in the global economy. The Dow prakamine plant was the first chemical plant in Louisiana to report workers who tested positive for coronavirus. The Louisiana government has also notified chemical plants in other parts of the state, including exxonmobil in Baton Rouge and BASF in Gasma. Both exxonmobil and BASF said they did not plan to close facilities, but would take a wide range of precautions.
