High River prepares for COVID-19 influx after death, meat plant outbreak

A town south of Calgary is preparing for an increase inCOVID-19 cases, with infectionspopping up from long-term care work and a local meat packaging plant.

The community of High River, with a populationof 13,500, has reported164 cases,as well as one death this week.

By Monday, the town is expected to have a new testing facility.

Maternity services have also been moved from High River General Hospital to Calgary as the health authority "proactively plansfor the anticipated surge in COVID-19 patients," according to a recent notice.

Alberta's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, said some of High River's cases stem from a local meat packaging plant, Cargill, but not all.

"Many of those cases were linked to large households where other members of the home were working in long-term care or health care, then brought it home and transmissioned within the household," Hinshaw said in her daily briefing to the media on Thursday.

"This is not a Cargill problem. This virus came into their plant just like it comes into every country,community."

She also reported that aman in the High River General Hospital's long-term care unit died from the respiratory illness.

The unit, which provides residential care, has had five coronavirus cases, Alberta Health said.

The town's meat packaging plant, as of Sunday, reported that 38 of its roughly 2,000 employees had tested positive for COVID-19.

Due to the "sheer number of individuals in isolation,"the company was able to cut its second shift without layoffs, a manager said.

Closing plant on the table

The union continues to call for a two-week closure to stem the spread among employees.

Jon Nash, head of Cargill's North American protein division,said the company is considering that request but so farhas tried to put it off by implementing safety measures.

In addition to cutting a shift, the company has started taking employees' temperatures before they begin work. The company has also added barriers between work stations and stopped having visitors to the site.

"If it comes to a point where we can't do what we need to do safely, we will not run that facility," Nash said from Wichita, Kansas.

Employees in isolation, or those staying home out of fear of infection, are receiving employment insurance benefits, Nash said.

Alberta Health has said there is no risk to the consumers who buy meat packaged at the plant, as COVID-19 is not a food-borne illness.

'You need to understand the information'

High River Mayor Craig Snodgrassaddressed his community's anxieties in hisweekly message to the town.

"I am not trying to make people panic but you need you to understand the information so you can understand your own actions and how seriously you are taking this," he said.

Heath authorities continue to request Albertans follow hygiene and physical distancing measures, which include staying home if showing any symptoms, and when well, reducing interactions with other people and staying at least two metres from them.

Hinshaw also recommended people quitsmoking, as there has been growing evidence that not smoking can increase outcomes for prevention and treatment of COVID-19.