The Raiders’ new Allegiant Stadium is currently in-the-works, but as construction continues, more and more workers are testing positive for the novel coronavirus.
Late March, the Las Vegas stadium’s construction venture Mortenson/McCarthey announced that a worker had tested positive for the virus. However, they noted that the worker was not in close contact with anyone else, and the area, along with its surrounding vicinity, was immediately shut down and sanitized. The venture decided work would continue as planned.
Cases at the construction site continued to rise with another case early April and four more throughout the month of April. The company has since instituted additional safety measures as of April 20, which included visitors wearing face coverings, increased compliance monitoring of the safety measures in place, and certain projects moved to night shifts.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, nine more people on site have tested positive. Now, a total of 16 employees have fallen ill to the virus. The venture has reportedly been asking employees who feel ill not to come to work and has increased the number of sanitation stations on site. Additionally, they’ve implemented staggering shift starts and now require “an on-site permit process for project partners.”
Although more and more workers are testing positive, the venture is adamant that construction will still continue as planned.
Allegiant Stadium, with a price tag of $2.5 billion, will hold 65,000 spectators. The stadium is still slated to open this summer, however, the team reportedly has “contingency plans” in place in case the project is not completed on time. As of right now, the NFL season has not been delayed.