LIVINGSTON, California (AP) – A bird processing plant in central California was ordered to close after becoming one of the state’s largest and most serious COVID-19 outbreaks, fitness officials said.
The order to close the Foster Farms Livingston facility comes after at least 358 workers tested positive and 8 workers died from coronavirus, according to a letter received from the Merced County Department of Health, Merced Sun-Star reported Thursday.
The plant ordered closure Wednesday, but Merced County spokesman Mike North said Thursday that county officials had granted a 48-hour deferment to the closing order to “help facilitate logistics related to any mandatory closure.”
Receive last-minute alerts in the FOX News app. Download for iOS or Android.
North said police continue to arrive after officials won a phone call from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Secretary of Food Security. He didn’t give any more details.
Not without delay, it is transparent how Foster Farms would respond to the closing order. A request for comment from The Associated Press on Friday responded not without delay.
“The Foster Farms poultry operation in Livingston, California, has noticed an alarming spread of COVID-19 among its workers. No one can forget the facts: it’s time to press the reset button at the Livingston plant in Foster Farms,” California attorney Said General Xavier Becerra in a statement.
Advertising
CONNECTION: Stay up-to-date on all information about coronavirus
The California Department of Public Health also issued county action assistance with Erica Pan, an interim public fitness officer, saying Foster Farms will have to perceive “that it has a legal responsibility to comply with public fitness ordinances and guidelines, also as a legal responsibility to its staff and citizens of Merced County and surrounding counties.
The outbreak at the Livingston facility accounts for 18% of COVID-19 deaths in County 65, 7% of total deaths in the county, and four out of 10 coronavirus deaths in Livingston, the Department of Health said.
For others, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that go away in two to three weeks. For some, especially the elderly and others with existing physical disorders, this can lead to more serious illnesses, which adds to pneumonia and death.
The multimillion-dollar company employs another 12,000 people in turkey processing at Turlock and bird plants in Livingston, Fresno and Porterville, as well as in Oregon, Washington, Louisiana and Alabama. Approximately 3,750 other people’s paintings at the Livingston plant, one of the largest bird production plants in the world.
In its letter, the state fitness branch said the Livingston plant burst out of specific fear because “other Foster Farms amenities in several counties are also experiencing epidemics.
The letter provided some main points about other plant shoots.
In the letter, Health Department officials said they had tried to curb the Livingston epidemic in vain.
RELATED: CoronavirusNOW.com, FOX launches a national center for COVID-19 and updates.
CalOSHA visited the Livingston facility throughout the County Health Department on August 3 and reported that the county’s initial recommendations had been adopted. According to the letter, the county reissued the check rules on August 5 and 11 that were met.
As a result, the state attorney general’s office, the California Department of Public Health, and the county fitness branch “worked with Foster Farms to restrict the effect of the closure and were unable to reach an agreement,” according to the statement.
“The closure of this plant is the only way for the outbreak to temporarily occur at Foster Farms. Our hearts are fainted by the 8 families who have lost one enjoyed,” said Dr. Salvador Sandoval of the Merced County Office of Public Health.