Foster Farms employee in Fresno has coronavirus, company confirms
An employee at a Foster Farms plant in Fresno tested positive for the coronavirus, corporate representatives confirmed on Wednesday, after employees had voiced concerns over their safety.
Foster Farms workers were notified on Tuesday that an employee was in quarantine at home after testing positive for COVID-19, the respiratory illness that comes from the new coronavirus.’
The employee’s last day at the Cherry Avenue plant alongside Highway 41 was April 11, according to the letter. No demographic information about the employee was provided by Foster Farms.
The letter said employees who had been in contact with the sick employee on April 11 were notified.
Foster Farms has followed Centers for Disease Control guidelines to keep employees safe, including hand sanitation and face masks, according to Ira Brill, the company’s vice president of communications.
He said no new efforts are planned following the employee’s positive test.
“Basically, what we’re trying to do is stay ahead of this thing,” he said on Wednesday. “Everything that can be done, that we’re aware of, has been done.”
“Our goal is to keep them safe and keep food on the table,” he said.
Foster Farms employs about 3,000 people at its two Fresno plants, 3,200 in Livingston and 1,300 in Turlock, including processing, transportation, distribution, management and administrators.
Meat plants
Meat-packing facilities can be a breeding ground for the spread of the virus. The Smithfield pork plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, became the single largest COVID-19 hotspot in the country with nearly 900 workers testing positive so far.
Advocates say the cramped quarters and demand for the employees to process meat as fast as possible makes the plant workers more vulnerable to the spread of the virus.
Foster Farms employees expressed their concerns with safety at the plants to The Fresno Bee last week through Naindeep Singh, executive director of the nonprofit Jakara Movement, a Sikh community and youth organization.
Singh said employees were bracing themselves Wednesday in case more positive cases are found.
“I think that we’re hoping it’s as limited as Foster Farms believes it is,” Singh said on Wednesday. The employees are worried it’s the tip of the iceberg.”
This story was originally published April 22, 2020 at 2:38 PM.
