BATH, Maine (AP) The stakes are growing in a strike against shipbuilder Bath Iron Works as company-provided health insurance is running out in the middle of a global pandemic.

More than 4,000 striking shipbuilders from Machinists Union Local S6 will be responsible for their own insurance effective Wednesday.

All told, six shipbuilders have become infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, including three in the past week who were in a carpool together.

Keeping health insurance through the COBRA program can cost hundreds of dollars a month.

Striking workers said Tuesday they were determined to press on even with the strike as tens of thousands of people remain unemployed in Maine.