CALGARY (660 NEWS) – Alberta Health officials have declared a COVID-19 outbreak at a Cargill processing facility in Calgary after finding five cases of the virus.
All cases remain active and widespread testing is underway at the facility that houses 400 employees.
“AHS and OHS have visited the plant and are making sure necessary measures are in place to reduce transmission and protect workers,” Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, said in a tweet.
Daniel Sullivan, a spokesperson with Cargill, said in a statement all those who tested positive for the disease are in isolation and receiving appropriate medical care and support.
“At this time there are no known workplace links between the five active cases. These individuals were not in regular contact with one another or working in the same areas,” Sullivan said.
Statement from Cargill on the latest outbreak at their facility in Calgary: pic.twitter.com/3Pf4dptGJG
— Jeff Slack (@Jeffslack660) August 14, 2020
“Out of an abundance of caution, we are working with AHS to offer testing to all of our employees over the next few days. We also continue to work closely with health officials to ensure effective prevention, cleaning and quarantine protocols are followed within our facilities and beyond.”
The facility is a “case ready plant” and provides meat including beef, pork, poultry, sausage and/or ground beef products for supermarket shelves.
UFCW Local 401 president Thomas Hesse says the conditions of this plant are similar to the facility in High River, which earlier this year was the largest outbreak in North America.
“There’s a lot of social proximity,” Hesse said.
“The plant is based around efficiency and the notion of production, so the workplace is very much at risk of COVID-19 contagion.”
Hesses added he is concerned there could be wide-spread transmission of the virus and is worried the company didn’t learn its lesson from the previous outbreak.
