Cargill’s High River Alberta Protein facility to resume operations

Global food and agriculture company Cargill has revealed plans to resume operations at its High River Alberta Protein facility in Canada.

The meat-packing plant was shut down due to Covid-19 outbreak and is now set to reopen on 4 May.

On 20 April, Cargill announced that it was temporarily closing the facility after several of its employees were infected with Covid-19.

So far, 821 employees of the plant have been tested Covid-19 positive and one person dead, according to media reports.

Cargill North America protein lead Jon Nash said: “In partnership with health, regulatory officials and after taking actions suggested by the local union, we have made the decision to reopen our facility in High River, following a 14-day idle.”

The company noted that it will operate its meat processing facility with only one shift.

The decision to open the facility has been backed by Alberta Health Services (AHS) and Occupational Health and Safety (OHS).

Cargill has asked all employees to report to work in its harvest department if they are “eligible to return to work”.

Nash added: “We have been working in lockstep with AHS since early March to lead on the implementation of proactive safety measures within the facility.

“Over the last 14 days, we have taken several additional actions to manage COVID-19 and make our facility an even safer place for our employees to work.

“We’ve been in regular communication with the union, AHS and OHS and have welcomed them for site visits which served to validate the enhanced safety measures in our facility.”

On 8 April, Cargill reportedly closed its meat plant in Pennsylvania, US, due to the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak.