According to a rule of the Chief Sanitary Officer of the West Kazakhstan Region, a quarantine is declared at the Karachaganak oil and gas field. Karachaganak Petroleum Operating B.V. (KPO), the operating company, has confirmed that an employee has tested positive for new coronavirus.
As the company’s press service reports, this specialist has been hospitalized and all his contacts were put in quarantine.
«We already know with whom this employee had contacts and all these people were subject to quarantine for further medical examination. KPO is going to follow all local health official rules and is ready to work hard to prevent coronavirus from spreading to other production departments of the company,» KPO stated on its website.
Meanwhile, Mukhamgali Aryspayev, chief sanitary officer, ordered to place a quarantine on the field where oil and gas extraction works are conducted until June 5, 2020.
According to the sanitary-epidemiological station’s rules, no vehicles can enter or leave the field’s territory. Staff members are prohibited from moving inside rotational villages as well as between them from 7:00 PM to 7:00 AM. Сhangeovers are possible only if newcomers have negative results of the polymerase chain reaction test (the test results expire after five days). The company should also install a video surveillance system to monitor all moves between building floors and rooms.
During the past weekend, there were 44 Covid-19 cases reported with 414 cases in the region in general.
The Karachaganak Petroleum Operating B.V. has operated in Kazakhstan since 1997. According to an agreement with the government of Kazakhstan, the company allocates $30 million yearly for various social purposes for local communities and it is the biggest donor in the region of West Kazakhstan.
Earlier this month, the Kazakhmys Corporation was forced to close its Nurkazgan minefield to quarantine until June 1. On May 21,133 cases of new coronavirus were reported among field workers.
Another oil company, Tengizchevroil, also closed its rotational village and now the Tengiz oil field is under threat of lockdown.
