COVID-19 Updates: Taking steps to return to normal.
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COVID-19 Updates: Taking steps to return to normal.
The Alberta government and Alberta Health Services (AHS) have provided the guidance to support Cargill to take aggressive measures to protect the health and safety of workers at the Cargill Canada beef-processing plant and keep Canada’s food supply chain strong.
Public health officials, Occupational Health and Safety (OHS), the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and others have all worked to ensure safety precautions were implemented at the facility, identify and support those with COVID-19 and help limit the spread to other workers.
There have been 908 COVID-19 cases in workers at the plant, including 631 who have recovered.
AHS first provided guidance to meat-processing facilities in March. As soon as the specific outbreak was identified, AHS took action to ensure outbreak control measures were implemented, support workers and limit the spread of COVID-19.
A dedicated AHS task force is working around the clock to respond to the outbreak. This task force has worked to identify cases, support workers and the community, and has provided specific information on measures such as disinfection and staff protocols required to ensure safety.
To support and enhance safety precautions put in place by the company, AHS Environmental Public Health inspectors and Calgary zone medical officers of health have been at the Cargill site regularly since April 8 to ensure additional infection prevention and control measures are in place, and no deficiencies have been identified. These measures include:
AHS will also continue working with local community organizations, Primary Care Networks and the local municipalities to help support those already impacted by the outbreak. This includes:
To limit the spread, the Government of Alberta and AHS have secured isolation accommodation for the placement of confirmed cases of COVID-19 for Cargill workers and close contacts for the purpose of self-isolation.
Translation services are also being utilized to help explain requirements concerning self-isolation and COVID-19 testing, and to communicate the availability of other supports that may be necessary to prevent the spread of the virus.
COVID-19 is not a food-borne illness. That said, to support the continuous operation of Alberta’s food supply chain, Agriculture and Forestry has partnered with the CFIA to increase food inspector capacity. Provincial meat inspectors are being trained for deployment to high-priority federally licensed plants in Alberta, if needed, to maintain inspection capacity
Agriculture and Forestry has also established an intergovernmental business resumption protocol for provincially and federally licensed food processing facilities in Alberta. This protocol was the first of its kind in the country. It formalized the cooperative approach used among the various organizations to minimize disruptions in the food supply and ensure operations can safely resume as quickly as possible when there is a closure.
In addition to AHS, OHS officials have visited the Cargill Ltd. beef-processing plant in High River on a number of occasions to monitor compliance with requirements to keep workers safe.
On April 15, an OHS official conducted a live, fully interactive virtual inspection of Cargill, with the inspector directing movement as required to observe employees at their daily duties. Workers, including a union representative, were included in the inspection process to ensure a fair and balanced assessment of the health and safety conditions. Virtual inspections are not specific or unique to the Cargill facility. On-site inspections were also conducted on April 27 and 29.
Officials will be on site when the plant resumes partial operations on May 4.
OHS is now conducting an investigation at the Cargill meat processing plant. This investigation will look at the circumstances surrounding potential exposure of workers at Cargill related to COVID-19. This will also include an investigation of any potential non-compliance that may have affected the health and safety of workers at the facility.