Exclusive
Just ONE Kennedy Space Center employee testing positive for COVID-19 requires a massive and pricey operation to sanitize every inch of the complex.
According to federal docs, obtained by TMZ … just under $191k in taxpayer dough is being paid to several companies contracted to sterilize the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.
One firm, LL & JP, received a total of $145,367 for cleaning “up to CDC standards for suspected or cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019” at Stennis … which is NASA’s largest rocket engine test facility.
According to the docs, the money came in 2 rounds — first on March 18 for $80,986 and then again March 27 for $64,381. The second round came after 3 Stennis employees tested positive for the virus earlier this week.
Meanwhile, over at the legendary Kennedy Space Center, a firm called Brevard Achievement Center received $45,258 for janitorial services. The money was earmarked “for unanticipated precautionary coronavirus related tasks.”
That’s feds-speak for … we had to scrub down real good after an employee recently tested positive for COVID-19.
Bottom line: There’s no good place to contract coronavirus, but it’s super expensive when it happens at NASA.