Electric Boat is seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases among its employees in Connecticut and Rhode Island similar to the rising positivity rates for the virus in local communities.

EB President Kevin Graney reported to employees in a podcast Thursday that 42 employees of the submarine builder's facilities in Connecticut and Rhode Island tested positive for the virus between Oct. 1 and 15, including a cluster of nine people who work in one department in Groton.

Five additional cases were reported at the Groton facility on Oct. 16, according to the company's COVID-19 case report summary.

Eleven of the employees who tested positive for the virus have been working from home, and one of the positive cases involved a person who was tested as part of pre-employment screening, Graney said.

The company has had a total of 172 COVID-positive employees since the beginning of the pandemic.

Graney a week earlier had reported the company had sanitized all high-touch areas in a building at the Groton facility where second-shift employees of one department had positive test results, added hand sanitizer stations and treated the area with microthermal fogging. Some personnel were shifted to other areas to enable social distancing.

He asked employees to be vigilant about wearing masks, practicing social distancing and washing or disinfecting hands frequently and reminded them not to come to work if they're sick.

On the podcast, Andrew Bond, vice president of human resources, said employees across all work groups have options if they're sick and have exhausted all their time off.