CAUTIOUS STEPS AHEAD
Hope, trepidation as range of services, businesses to reopen
As Alberta’s death toll from COVID-19 climbed to 92 Friday, the union representing workers at the outbreak-stricken Cargill meat-packing plant in High River pursued legal action to keep the site closed.
There are now 921 cases of the novel coronavirus among employees at the Cargill facility, meaning that nearly half of the plant’s 2,000 employees have now tested positive for the deadly virus. One worker has also died.
Earlier this week, Cargill announced the plant would reopen for a single shift of operations starting Monday, saying additional safety measures to prevent the spread of COVID -19 had been put in place.
But the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 401, which represents Cargill employees, says forcing employees back to work is “reckless” and is seeking a stopwork order from Alberta Occupational Health and Safety to prevent the plant’s scheduled reopening.
“It is our objective and role to use every legal avenue available to us to keep the Cargill High River plant closed until we are able to ensure the safety of workers employed there and that their voices have been heard,” said UFCW Local 401 president Thomas Hesse Friday.
“Food workers are afraid to go to work in the current environment. They lack the economic security they need to recover, and they are terrified of bringing this illness to their families and communities. While they try to recover, their employer and government are telling them to get back to work.”
The union also filed an unfair labour practice complaint, naming both Cargill and the Government of Alberta as respondents.
Alberta public health officials have maintained that it is safe to reopen the plant on Monday.
Cargill said in a statement Friday it has the support of both AHS and Occupational Health and Safety to reopen and the company is working with the union to keep workers safe.
“The safety of our employees is our top priority. We are engaging in good faith with the UFCW. We are eager to sit down and have a meaningful discussion about our shared focus — keeping our workers safe in the midst of this global pandemic,” the statement read.
The province’s second-largest outbreak is also in a meat-packing plant: at the JBS facility in Brooks, there are 390 cases among employees and contractors. Combined, the two outbreaks make up nearly a quarter of Alberta’s COVID-19 cases.
Alberta chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw reported three more Albertans have died of COVID-19 Friday, bringing the province’s total to 92. Each death was in a continuing care facility, where a total of 580 cases have now been detected.
Two of the deaths were residents of Millrise Place. Three residents of the southeast Calgary seniors village have now died and at least 32 staff and residents have tested positive for COVID-19. The other death was in High Prairie’s J.B. Wood Continuing Care Centre.
More than 20 Alberta Health Services staff have began worked at Millrise Place since it first reported a case on April 15, a necessary step given “challenges” Hinshaw says the facility had in following public-health orders.
Hinshaw also reported 218 new confirmed coronavirus cases since Thursday, bringing the province’s total to 5,573. The new cases came from more than 4,800 tests, about a 4.5 per cent positive rate.
Another new outbreak was declared at the Amazon fulfilment centre in Balzac, just north of Calgary, where five workers have tested positive for COVID-19. Hinshaw said it’s not clear if the five workers all had a common exposure and said additional safety measures will be introduced at the work site to avoid another significant cluster of cases like those seen at Cargill.
“They’ve had a site inspection already, with someone from the public health team who has gone on site and seen there are already many measures in place to prevent the spread of infection,” Hinshaw said. “This is a very different kind of workplace than Cargill.”
Outbreaks were also declared at Calgary Refrigerated Warehouse and Purolator in Calgary, according to data released by Alberta Health.
An outbreak at Alpha House was confirmed after two residents of the homeless shelter tested positive for COVID-19. Outbreaks at the Drop-in Centre’s main shelter and the Salvation Army had already been confirmed.
Hinshaw says it’s becoming more clear which Albertans are at greatest risk of a severe outcome from a COVID-19 infection, including intensive care unit admission and death.
Age is the greatest risk factor for COVID-19, but Hinshaw said obesity and immunodeficiency are also frequently present in Alberta’s COVID-19 deaths.
Coughs and sore throats are the most common symptoms of the virus, but Hinshaw said that 7.5 per cent of COVID-19 cases in Alberta were asymptomatic at the time they were tested.
In total, 2,359 Albertans are now confirmed to have recovered from COVID -19, making up 42 per cent of all confirmed cases.
CONTACT TRACING APP
The day after detailing a plan to gradually reopen the province, Alberta released a phone application meant to help trace the spread of COVID -19.
The application is called AB Trace Together. It works by using Bluetooth to track when someone comes in contact with another person who has tested positive for the coronavirus.
“The use of technology for this purpose may seem intrusive, but downloading the app is completely voluntary, and data will not be accessed unless the user provides consent for the data to be accessed by AHS,” Hinshaw said.
Using technology to assist with contact tracing is one box the province said it needs to check before allowing some businesses to reopen, which could occur as early as May 14.
That first phase of Alberta’s relaunch would see non-essential retailers, barbershops, hairstylists, daycares to reopen, provided that they continue to follow social distancing guidelines. Restaurants, bars, lounges and cafes could reopen too with maximum 50 per cent capacity.
But for that phase to begin, Hinshaw said the province will need to establish more comprehensive testing and contact tracing, as well as continue to see hospitalization trends that indicate Alberta’s health-care system will not be overrun.
Some changes to restrictions are being made almost immediately, however, with vehicle access to provincial parks restored Friday and golf courses allowed to reopen as early as Saturday. Conversely, restrictions on mass gatherings and non-essential travel could be in place for months to come.
Hinshaw said Friday that tentative dates for reopenings aren’t guaranteed, a sentiment echoed by Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi.
“Don’t circle May 14 on your calendar as ‘normal day,’” Nenshi warned.