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By Jessica Resnick-Ault and Yareth Rosen
NEW YORK/ANCHORAGE, Alaska, April 1 (Reuters) - Several
workers on a BP Plc oil platform in the U.S. Gulf of
Mexico have tested positive for coronavirus, the company said on
Wednesday, a day after a worker at BP's operations in Alaska
also tested positive.
The cases are the first recorded among oil workers in the
Gulf of Mexico and Alaska, and follow a positive test at an
Equinor offshore project in the North Sea.
A case of the coronavirus was also reported at BP's Whiting,
Indiana refinery, according to local media reports.
More than 850,000 people have been infected by the virus
worldwide, which has killed more than 42,000 people.
The disease outbreak presents special challenges for oil
companies' offshore platforms and other isolated locales. Such
facilities bring workers in and out on a rotating basis, keeping
them in place for a designated time before new workers replace
them.
BP and other companies have already extended their
designated work periods to limit travel.
The worker who tested positive at BP's operation in
Alaska's Prudhoe Bay has been isolated, the state's chief
medical officer said. The worker was an Alaska resident who had
recently traveled out of state, its department of health and
social services said in a statement.
"BP is following procedures and protocols to minimize the
risk of COVID-19 and ensure the safety of our people. We are
eliminating all non-essential activity on the slope," said Megan
Baldino, spokeswoman for BP Alaska.
The BP worker had returned to Alaska before travel curbs
imposed on March 23, going to the North Slhope on March 25.
BP gave no details on which platform the Gulf of Mexico case
was associated with, and had no immediate comment on potential
production cuts in response to the cases.
But the company said in a statement that it had instituted
additional cleaning and other sanitation measures to keep its
workers safe during the outbreak.
(Reporting By Yereth Rosen in Anchorage, Alaska and Jessica
Resnick-Ault in New York; Editing by Gerry Doyle and Tom Brown)
