(LaPorte, IN) - Construction of the new LaPorte Hospital resumed Monday after the job site was shutdown May 19 due to COVID-19.

Joe Forsthoffer, a spokesman for the general contractor Robins & Morton out of Birmingham, Alabama, said about 60 of the over 200 workers tested positive for the virus.

Forsthoffer said returning workers under the Centers for Disease Control guidelines had to produce certification they tested negative or spent 14 days in self-isolation without symptoms during the last 72 hours.

He said workers testing positive must show they no longer had symptoms in the last 72 hours 10 days after first diagnosed.

Forsthoffer said all returning workers daily are now required to have their temperatures checked and fill out a health screening questionnaire to make sure they haven’t developed symptoms or had recent contact with someone exhibiting symptoms.

He also said workers must wear face coverings.

“We’ve implemented additional health and safety measures to provide an added level of assurance for everyone working on the project. Those steps are in addition to the extensive protocols all following CDC guidance that was already in place,” Forsthoffer said.

Work on the $125 million hospital at State and Tyler streets were suspended when four workers exhibiting symptoms tested positive for the virus.

Six more workers exhibiting signs of being infected soon came back with positive test results.

SERVPRO of LaPorte County spent 48 hours last week cleaning and disinfecting the site.

The hospital is still on target for completion in late summer or early fall.