Fresno County public health director: Foster Farms COVID outbreaks handled properly

In reading the March 18th Fresno Bee headline regarding Fresno County and Foster Farms and the related editorial on March 19th, readers could misinterpret what is actually happening at this and other facilities in Fresno County.

The Fresno County Department of Public Health (FCDPH) has been working closely with local businesses to help ensure COVID-19 public health prevention measures are in place. This work started in February 2020 and continues today. The FCDPH provides consultation, written guidelines, conducts unannounced inspections, and conducts site visits as part of its oversight duties. At times, it is prudent to conduct pre-arranged site visits, particularly with large, complex industrial operations, to ensure that appropriate company experts will be on site to discuss complete information about program implementation with our staff.

In proper context, the Dec. 8 site inspection of Foster Farms referenced in The Bee article took place after an unannounced site inspection earlier in 2020.

On Sept. 1, in response to complaints from the public and a reported increase in COVID-19 cases, FCDPH conducted an unannounced site inspection of the Foster Farms Belgravia plant. At that time, FCDPH reviewed the company’s policies and procedures for preventing the spread of COVID-19 among their employees and completed a visual inspection of the facility to evaluate compliance.

Conclusions from the site inspection was that Foster Farms demonstrated it had taken many steps to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission. The facility appeared to be in compliance with state COVID-19 industry guidelines.

In November, workers at the Foster Farms Cherry plant began experiencing an outbreak of COVID-19 cases. The outbreak was detected by surveillance testing, which was conducted by an independent company hired by Foster Farms and cases were reported to our public health department.

Of significant concern was that many employees tested positive without symptoms of COVID-19. The FCDPH was in contact with Foster Farms, and as part of the response, the FCDPH scheduled a site inspection of the plant. The purpose of the inspection was to complete a more in-depth review of their COVID-19 related policies and procedures.

Although the Department does conduct inspections without notice and had conducted an unannounced inspection at the Foster Farms Belgravia plant, this inspection and meeting in December was never intended to be a “surprise” inspection as stated in the Fresno Bee editorial.

The department requested the presence of the company’s human resources manager, the plant manager, a vice president responsible for the COVID-19 response, and the plant health and safety officer. Some of those individuals live and work outside Fresno County, so it was necessary to schedule the meeting beforehand to assure that all necessary personnel and documentation would be available to assist FCDPH in this more in-depth review.

In preparation for the meeting, Cal-OSHA requested an opportunity to participate in the site visit. Both the Cal-OSHA representative and Foster Farms were updated on the meeting.

The FCDPH spent most of the day going over COVID-19 related plans and procedures with company executives and walked-through both the Belgravia and Cherry plants to observe how those procedures and plans were carried out. The Cal-OSHA inspectors conducted their own separate and independent investigation. Following the site inspection, the facility appeared to be in compliance with state COVID-19 industry guidelines.

Over the subsequent days and weeks, Foster Farms conducted aggressive universal testing of its workforce and the immediate exclusion of asymptomatic workers who tested positive. This procedure greatly reduced the number of cases and controlled the outbreak.

In The Bee article and related editorial, the FCDPH is criticized for not publicly reporting cases at workplaces. We acknowledge reporting of cases at facilities publicly has been handled differently across California. While AB 685 provides for standard reporting to employees, the local health jurisdiction, and Cal-OSHA, it does not require disclosure of names and locations of outbreaks publicly.

Many businesses we work with are identified as essential infrastructure and did not have the opportunity to allow employees to simply stay home or telecommute. They remained open throughout the pandemic to ensure a safe, reliable food supply for our community, and the nation. I am proud of the work the Fresno County Department of Public Health has done, and continues to do, to protect essential workers.

This story was originally published March 23, 2021 at 11:56 AM.