An Okotoks area poultry plant received high praise for its handling of a COVID-19 outbreak after two cases were reported at the facility in late April.
Alberta chief medical officer Deena Hinshaw said quick action led to the prevention of spread at Mountain View Poultry. She had previously reported of the initial two cases at the poultry plant just west of Okotoks on April 24.
“Prompt reporting and early intervention led to the prevention of spread,” Hinshaw said on May 4. “A prompt report to public health of just one or two confirmed cases meant the testing of all workers, isolation of cases and contacts, and outbreak process implementation all took place in days of notification.”
She also praised Sofina Foods, which produces chicken products in Calgary, in its prompt action in limiting spread of COVID-19 after it reported one case.
When the two cases were identified at Mountain View, it was all hands on deck to help the employees, said Hessel Kielstra, president of Vyefield Enterprises, which operates Mountain View.
“You do your best to make sure you have done everything so it didn’t hit us more — it was just ‘Now we have to deal with this,” Kielstra said on May 5. “We just made sure that we listened and made sure that things were washed down properly, disinfected properly and we put in Plexiglas so people weren’t breathing on each other.
“Poultry lines, you can’t have people six feet apart – you wouldn’t be doing anything. There are a lot of people in close proximity.”
The two employees who first tested for COVID-19 are now back at work. Kielstra said of the three remaining employees who tested positive, two are expected back next week.
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Part of Mountain View’s quick action was taking the temperature of all the employees.
"If it was up at all we told them: ‘No you can’t come to work today,'” Kielstra said. “That’s how we kept it under control.”
There is a killing plant and a processing plant at Mountain View, which has around 35 people in one and 15 in the other.
It processes around 8,500 chickens a day.
The plant did not have to close. However, the production has slowed as some employees have opted to stay home.
Kielstra said the company understood the concerns of the employees.
“Everybody has different levels of anxiety — we don’t make any judgments,” he said.
Those who opted not to work received financial assistance through the government and Mountain View.
Mountain View was also assisted by Alberta Health Services.
“They gave us pointers as to what to do – made sure we are doing things right,” he said. “They also made sure we all got tested… They have been co-operative in trying to help us — giving us the best education they can give us.”
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