By Troy Gillard

Worker tested positive last week

13 Red Deer Olymel employees test negative for COVID-19

Aug 21, 2020 | 9:31 AM

RED DEER, AB – Officials with Olymel say all 13 of the employees at their Red Deer pork processing facility who were sent for COVID-19 tests after another worker tested positive have been cleared to return to work.

It was last Monday, Aug. 10 when an employee at the facility began showing symptoms of the novel coronavirus. That person was sent home and went for a COVID-19 test the following day. Two days later, on Thursday, the results from that test came back positive.

Through contract tracing, Olymel identified 13 other workers who may have come in contact with the infected individual. The company says each of them went for a COVID-19 test and that all of the results from those tests have come back negative.

Last week’s confirmed case was the first at the Olymel plant in Red Deer, which employs more than 1,500 workers.

Company spokesperson Richard Vigneault says Olymel will continue with the “rigorous measures” they have in place at the facility to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

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“The only employee who tested positive remains in isolation and Olymel wishes her a quick recovery,” says Vigneault.

He adds Alberta Health Services and Occupational Health & Safety conducted a plant tour on Tuesday, August 18 and were satisfied with the measures put in place.