Five cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed among staff at a Cargill case-ready meat plant in Calgary.
The company said the employees at the facility are in isolation and there’s no known link between the cases.
“These individuals were not in regular contact with one another or working in the same areas,” company spokesperson Dan Sullivan said in an emailed statement to Global News on Friday.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we are working with AHS to offer testing to all of our employees over the next few days.”
According to Alberta Health Services, there is no known link between these cases and the outbreak at Cargill’s High River facility that accounted for hundreds of cases this spring.
Sullivan said the company is working with health officials to make sure quarantine, cleaning and virus prevention protocols are being followed in all its facilities.
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AHS spokesperson James Woods said public health inspectors, along with members from Occupational Health and Safety and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, have done a tour of the Calgary facility. Contact tracing is also underway and testing has been offered to contractors and food inspectors.
“The facility remains open and was already following established COVID-19 protocols to protect staff and reduce the risk of transmission between workers,” AHS said.
The health authority said the facility has advanced screening and monitoring of employees, including thermal image screening and temperature checks, has good physical distancing protocols and has employees wearing masks and face shields.
Cargill’s Calgary has a total of 400 employees, the company said.
On Friday, Alberta confirmed 84 new cases of the novel coronavirus in the province, bringing the total number of cases to 12,053.
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