VANCOVER – Health officials shut down a poultry processing plant in Surrey after 30 employees there tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.
Wingtat Game Bird Packers Inc. In a public statement last week, some workers at the Sari facility had tested positive for the coronavirus and that it had been shutting down this site while working with Fraser Health to deal with cases.
The company did not say how many people tested positive for the virus, nor did it say if the outbreak had been announced.
Fraser Health made its first public comment on the situation in a press release on Wednesday, saying 30 cases had been discovered and an outbreak declared. The Health Authority also said it closed the facility at 9752186 Street in Surrey.
Fraser Health said group tests of facility employees are underway.
The company said its head office and packing and warehousing facility in Richmond remained open.
Fraser Health said in its release that the chicken products distributed from the Wingate site in Sari will not be withdrawn, because “there is no evidence indicating that food is a possible source or route of transmission of the virus.”
No cases of food or packaging leading to the transmission of COVID-19 have been reported, according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
