Dozens infected in outbreak at third meat plant

A third Alberta meat-processing plant has seen a surge in COVID -19 cases as Alberta’s top doctor confirmed 36 employees at Harmony Beef tested positive for the deadly virus.

A worker at the facility, located just north of Calgary in Balzac, had tested positive for COVID-19 in late March, leading to a temporary shutdown of the plant — something the union representing inspectors working at the plant says should happen again.

Nearly a third of the 36 cases at Harmony were identified through testing of asymptomatic employees, which Alberta chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said helps with early identification of cases and can prevent larger outbreaks.

“I actually think that this was a measure of success that we were able to identify this number of cases,” Hinshaw said.

“We’ve made sure that they are now able to be isolated and can prevent further spread from happening.”

Agriculture Union president Fabian Murphy says that any meat-processing plant that sees a COVID-19 outbreak should close for 14 days — including Harmony Beef, where Canadian Food Inspection Agency workers are present during operations.

“We’re looking for a consistent approach but that’s not what we’re seeing right now. What we’re seeing, especially in Alberta, is that it’s being left up to the provincial health agency and the plant to make a determination if they shut down or not, and what we’ve seen is a lot of the plants didn’t shut down,” Murphy said.

“These plants all need to make sure they put worker safety first. We know food production is important, but people’s lives and their health and safety have to be paramount.”

About 440 people work at the Harmony Beef plant.

Spokesman Crosbie Cotton said the facility implemented temperature testing for employees on March 16, among other measures.

According to Cotton, no employees have been hospitalized.

“Our plant is separated into three different areas with separate parking lots, plant entrances, locker-rooms and cafeterias. The employees in each area are not allowed to mix,” he said.

“We have provided new PPE surgical masks to everyone every day, dramatically increased sanitizing efforts, put in Plexiglas dividers where possible, set up as much social distancing as possible, staggered shifts to separate arrivals, limited carpooling to two people, and so much more to safeguard employees.”

The outbreak follows those at the Cargill meat-packing plant in High River and the JBS plant in Brooks, which are Alberta’s two largest COVID-19 outbreaks. At JBS, 487 employees and contractors have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. There is one death and 949 COVID-19 cases among Cargill employees, including 810 recoveries. That plant reopened Monday after a two-week closure, despite calls from the union representing Cargill workers for the site to remain closed.

Another outbreak was announced Tuesday at the Calgary Co-op’s Midtown location, detailed by the company in an email to members.

There are 15 cases at the downtown store, including six that are currently active. The cases were reported April 19, Calgary Co-op said.

TESTING TO DOUBLE

Alberta is procuring additional testing equipment in a bid to dramatically increase its testing capacity by the end of May.

The new equipment comes from a $4.5-million investment, including a $1.7-million donation from the Calgary Health Trust charity. It would bring testing capacity from the current 7,000 tests per day to about 16,000 tests per day by June 1.

The testing machines will be distributed throughout the province and are meant to ease the strain on labs in Calgary and Edmonton. After the pandemic, the testing machines will be used to test for other viruses, including seasonal flus.

“Testing is a critical element of our province’s response to COVID-19 and it is essential to our province’s relaunch strategy,” said Health Minister Tyler Shandro. “Testing gives us data that will inform our decisions as a province so that as restrictions are lifted at each of the three stages of our relaunch strategy, we can quickly evaluate the impact and adjust as needed.”

Alberta Health cautioned that meeting the target for testing would depend on factors including maintaining supply of testing materials, including reagent chemicals.

Previously, the province set goals for 9,000 daily tests by the end of April and 20,000 by the end of May. To date, Alberta has only surpassed 5,000 tests in a single day twice.

Hinshaw announced Monday a dramatic expansion of testing criteria. In addition to previous symptoms such as cough or fever, all Albertans with symptoms including headaches and loss of the sense of taste or smell now can be tested, as well as asymptomatic Albertans who were in close contact with someone who had tested positive.

TWO MORE DEATHS

Hinshaw also announced Tuesday that two more Albertans have died of COVID-19, bringing the province’s death toll from the virus to 106.

The two deaths were of residents of continuing-care centres in Calgary. One was a man in his 80s from Intercare Brentwood, while the other was a man in his 70s from Carewest Sarcee.

In total, there have been 622 COVID -19 cases in long-term care facilities, resulting in the death of 77 residents.

Alberta Health Services announced late Monday that it had appointed Agecare Health Services, a long-term care provider, to take over operations of the Millrise Seniors Village.

The southwest Calgary facility has seen four deaths and 37 cases, including 25 among residents. It was previously managed by Retirement Concepts, a provider based in Vancouver.

Tuesday marked two months since the province’s first reported case of COVID-19.

Since that first case — a Calgary woman returning from a California cruise — nearly 6,000 cases of the novel coronavirus have been reported in the province. Hinshaw announced 57 new COVID -19 cases in Alberta on Tuesday, bringing the province’s total to 5,893.

There are now 3,219 confirmed recoveries, 55 per cent of Alberta’s reported cases.

The provincial government announced Tuesday upcoming legislation that will allow Alberta individuals and businesses to defer payment of their electricity and natural gas utility bills until June 18.

The ability to defer utility payments was among financial measures announced by the province in mid-march meant to ease potential economic strain on Albertans during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those who defer their payments are still expected to pay them after the program expires.

More details on the legislation are expected Wednesday.