As meat plant infections rise, Canada lets packers choose when to close
Source: The Guardian
Winnipeg, Manitoba (Reuters), May 1 2020 - In Cargill Inc's High River, Alberta plant, supplier of more than one-third of Canada's beef, 391 workers were sick with coronavirus when the company suspended operations, according to provincial health officials.
But Maple Leaf Foods decided to idle a poultry plant for eight days, in Brampton, Ontario, after just three workers were infected.
In Canada's fight against the pandemic, public health officials are mostly leaving decisions on closing meat plants to the companies, even though the authorities have power to do so. Alberta Health Services (AHS), for example, could close a plant with unsafe conditions, spokesman Tom McMillan said.
The impact of such decisions extends beyond plant walls. They are at the heart of Alberta's two largest community outbreaks, and could foreshadow dilemmas likely to emerge as other industries restart.