21 food inspectors infected in province
Forty federal government food inspectors — including 21 in Alberta — have tested positive for COVID -19, according to the union representing the workers.
Agriculture Union president Fabian Murphy confirmed Wednesday that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) inspectors had contracted the novel coronavirus, including at the Cargill meat-packing plant in High River, the site of the largest workplace outbreak in Canada.
At Cargill, Murphy says 18 of the CFIA’S 37 on-site inspectors tested positive for COVID -19. The facility has seen 947 workers test positive for the virus, and three deaths are linked to the outbreak.
“It’s a pretty serious occupational hazard, one that we’re not used to dealing with. We did have procedures for this in place, of course, but it seems more and more that the operators of these facilities can’t control the outbreaks and it’s very difficult to control them, especially in the larger plants,” Murphy said.
“So we’re seeing a good number of infections, upwards of 50 per cent.”
Federal regulations require CFIA inspectors to be present at food-processing plants during operations. The inspectors oversee the process and inspect food to ensure it is safe for Canadians to eat, Murphy said.
Two other Alberta meat-packing plants have seen COVID-19 outbreaks. At JBS in Brooks, 627 workers have been infected and one has died, while the Harmony Beef plant just north of Calgary has seen 40 workers test positive.
The CFIA said it is aware of 39 employees who have tested positive for COVID -19 between March 23 and May 12. The agency says masks and face shield have been made available to all its inspectors and that there are no reported cases of food or food packaging associated with transmitting the coronavirus.
“When cases of COVID -19 occur in a food processing establishment, the CFIA works with local public health authorities to determine the level of risk of exposure for CFIA employees, and their need for self-isolation and/or referral to health services for testing,” the CFIA said in a statement.
According to Murphy, no CFIA workers have died of COVID-19, but one Alberta inspector was put on a ventilator due to the virus.
The union head says the only successful way to mitigate risk for meat-plant workers is to shut down facilities for 14 days following the confirmation of a COVID-19 case.
“It’s important to make sure that we put the health and safety and the lives of these workers first,” Murphy said.
Alberta Sen. Paula Simons tweeted about the cases among CFIA inspectors and said she has sent questions to the federal government hoping to address safety concerns at meat-packing plants.
“While Covid-19 isn’t a food borne disease, we can’t compromise the integrity of our food inspection system, nor put more workers in harms way,” Simons tweeted.
“Because while we can’t catch Covid from a hamburger or steak, there are plenty of other health risks that CFIA inspectors watch for. And long-term, we do the beef industry no favours, if people don’t have confidence in the beef we produce and eat.”