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Fifty-six employees at the Copper River Seafoods processing plant in Anchorage have actually checked positive for COVID-19, the Anchorage Health Department said in a declaration Friday night, marking the most recent break out within Alaska’s seafood industry.
Nearly all of the staff members at the plant, which employs 134 workers, live in the Town of Anchorage, the health department said. Another 30 test results have not yet been returned and 14 workers were not tested, according to the department. Checking was performed from July 17 to 22.
The Anchorage Health Department and state Department of Health and Social Services’ Area of Epidemiology are working to conduct contact tracing. The 2 firms are coordinating with Copper River Seafoods “to control this outbreak as rapidly as possible and avoid further spread of the illness among co-workers, relative and the community,” the Anchorage Health Department stated.
“This is a concerning situation for individuals of Anchorage,” said Dr. Bruce Chandler, illness control and avoidance medical officer with the city health department. “With so many workers now checking favorable, it is most likely that this outbreak has been in development for a long time and that transmission has already occurred among household, good friends and others in the neighborhood