Foster Farms Shuts Down Livingston Poultry Processing Facility after 8 Workers Die of COVID-19
8 Foster Farms Employees Succumb to Coronavirus; Livingston Poultry Plant Closed
Merced, California (September 2, 2020) – Foster Farms, one of the biggest poultry processing plants in California, has shut down one of its plants in Livingston after at least eight workers succumbed to COVID-19.
The company, which employs at least 3,700 people, sent home more than 1,400 workers with pay until at least Monday, September 7.
According to a statement by the company, the workers will undergo at least two tests during the shutdown. “During this downtime, the company will complete two rounds of deep cleaning and two rounds of COVID-19 testing covering all 1,400 plant employees. The testing program will ensure that all workers first reentering the plant on September 7 will be free of COVID-19,” Heidi White, the senior vice president of Foster Farms said. “It is important to recognize that the Merced Public Health Order permits the continued operation of these other facilities,” he added.
The directive to shut down the plant came after the Merced County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) described the outbreak as the “most severe and long-lasting outbreak” in the county. In a press statement, the MCDPH said it notified Foster Farms that its Livingston Facility was officially declared an outbreak on June 29 after at least 392 workers have tested positive for coronavirus at the plant. Eight workers are reported to have succumbed to the infection.
The department added that it believed closing down the facility was the only option left in stemming the spread of the infection. “This Health Order is a significant step toward our ultimate goal of stemming the spread of COVID-19 in our community and saving lives,” MCDPH Officer Salvador Sandoval said.
“We take these types of situations very seriously. We’re grateful that Foster Farms was willing to come to the table and reach an agreement that will protect its employees while providing a blueprint for the company to continue its critical food production operations” he added.
Foster Farms said the facility had already tested 2,900 workers since August 12, and the positivity rate was found to be less than 1%. According to a report by the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting, which has been maintaining data of the positive cases and deaths, there have been at least 38,500 reported positive cases tied to meatpacking facilities in at least 417 plants in 40 states, and at least 180 reported worker deaths in at least 50 plants in 27 states, as of August 31.
The Jakara Movement, a local community group, held a vigil own the street from the Foster Farms’ Livingston plant to honor the lives lost due to the outbreak.
Merced County declared a coronavirus outbreak in June and later determined that the chicken processing plant did not comply with its recommendations. One of the recommendations included comprehensive testing of workers at the plant.
