4 workers test positive for COVID-19 at Charlotte Convention Center construction site
Four construction workers at the Charlotte Convention Center have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, the contractor for the center’s $127 million expansion project said Tuesday.
The cases were isolated to one contractor crew, and through contract tracing, three cases were linked to the initial one, according to a statement provided by Beth Lowry, spokeswoman for the joint venture known as Holder-Edison Foard-Leeper.
According to the statement, workers were immediately quarantined for 14 days and the exterior portion of the building they were working on was shut down for deep cleaning for a few hours.
In December, officials broke ground on the expansion, which calls for a new pedestrian bridge over Stonewall Street, connecting the center with the Westin Charlotte hotel and Blue Line light rail station. It also includes 50,000 square feet of new meeting room and “pre-function” space.
City Council voted to increase funding for the project in September after cost estimates rose from $110 million to $127 million. The public money is coming from the city’s hospitality and tourism taxes.
Safety measures
Also Tuesday, Mecklenburg County health director Gibbie Harris said there are coronavirus outbreaks on construction sites in Charlotte. She was speaking in general, and did not refer to specific sites.
Harris said the county is talking with construction companies to push them to provide personal protective equipment and implement social distancing.
Rocio Gonzales, executive director of the Latin American Chamber of Commerce, said large construction firms should be held accountable for the safety of their employees.
City council member Julie Eiselt said she’d like to know what the contractor at the convention center is going to do about the outbreak.
“Even in normal times it would be up to the contractor to have safety standards and requirements for their workers,” she said. “And I would like to know what their requirements were under this environment, the COVID- 19 environment.”
The joint venture said it has implemented temperature checks on-site, required face coverings, added handwashing and tool cleaning stations, and handed out health questionnaires to workers, among other measures.
“The on-site safety protocols successfully protected the other workers and Convention Center facility staff from any further exposure,” the joint venture said in the statement.
Late Tuesday, Harris clarified that while she referred to the cases likely linked to construction worksite exposures as outbreaks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and N.C. health officials have not given guidance on defining or reporting outbreaks for businesses or construction sites.
They have only done so for outbreaks in long-term care and congregant living facilities, she said at a meeting of the Mecklenburg County Board of County Commissioners.
“We will release further details if there is a public health reason to do so,” she said.
Staff writer Jim Morrill contributed
This story was originally published May 19, 2020 at 4:53 PM.
