COVID cited in second, third deaths at meat plant
Quarter of workers at Red Deer facility infected by virus
Two more people have died in relation to the Red Deer Olymel COVID-19 outbreak, which has now grown to 500 cases.
Alberta Health reported the deaths Friday. One was a woman in her 60s who died Sunday; the other was a man in his 50s who died Wednesday.
The union that represents employees at the pork slaughterhouse identified the man as Henry De Leon, a worker at the plant for more than 15 years after coming to Canada as a foreign worker from the Dominican Republic. He was described as a hard worker with a bright smile.
“I'm heartbroken and frankly enraged,” UFCW Local 401 President Thomas Hesse said in a statement.
“We'd made ongoing demands for a temporary closure of this plant to ensure everyone's safety. Instead, the company sat on its hands and did little or nothing.”
The union said investigations into the circumstances of the death are ongoing but said it is suspected De Leon contracted the virus after the union asked Olymel to close the plant but before the company shuttered operations indefinitely Feb. 16.
The plant remains closed. Alberta Health said there have been 500 cases linked to the outbreak at Olymel as of Friday, with 156 remaining active.
The Red Deer workplace has about 1,850 employees, meaning more than a quarter of its workers were infected.
The first death at the facility happened Jan. 28, when Darwin Doloque, 35, died after contracting COVID -19 linked to the Olymel plant.
UFCW Local 401 said they were unaware of the details of the death of the woman linked to the outbreak. Alberta Health declined to specify whether she was an employee or member of the community.
Olymel also said they were not aware of the death of the woman.
Company spokesperson Richard Vigneault recognized the death of De Leon.
“Olymel would like to express that we are deeply saddened by the loss of this employee and offer our sincere condolences to the family and all of our workers at this time,” Vigneault said in an email.
The three deaths at Olymel match those linked to the Cargill meat-packing plant in High River last spring, an outbreak that infected 950 and remains Canada's largest.
The union, which also represents Cargill workers, said they had “lived through this horror before” and bemoaned that lessons learned from the first outbreak didn't prevent the one at Olymel.
“We meant it when we said that we didn't want this to turn into another Cargill,” said union secretary-treasurer Richelle Stewart.