34 more employees of Ruiz Foods have tested positive for COVID-19.
This brings the total number of workers at the frozen food company who have contracted the coronavirus to 77.
A spokesperson told Action News the company has not shut down its two plants in Tulare and Dinuba but has scaled back production.
The company is also stressing that it’s important for workers to follow social distancing guidelines and wear masks while they are not at work.
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An official with the Tulare County Department of Public Health said they are seeing cases go up due to a variety of reasons, especially family-to-family transmission as groups of people socialize, and that cases will rise as more testing sites go into operation.
“We continue to strongly encourage people to stay home except for essential services, wash or sanitize hands and surfaces frequently, social distance when out for essential services, and wear a facemask when out to prevent passing on the virus,” said Tammie Weyker-Adkins from the department of public health.
During our earlier coverage about Ruiz Foods employees testing positive, a company spokesperson sent us the following statement:
Ruiz Foods has been taking extraordinary and proactive measures since before Covid-19 was identified as a pandemic. The situation has been a challenge for employers, especially as guidance has changed. We immediately imposed travel restrictions, hygiene requirements, and educated our team members to prevent infection. We have implemented temperature screening and mandatory mask wearing. We have enhanced our already stringent sanitation processes, and worked to improve physical distancing within the facility to the maximum extent feasible.
Still, with Tulare County infections on the rise, we are being impacted. I’m sure you know, Tulare County continues to have the highest number of Covid-19 positive cases out of the six county Central San Joaquin Valley area.
Following CDC, OSHA, and local health authority guidance, we inform any team member who we learn has been exposed to a Covid-19 diagnosed person – whether that exposure is from another team member or a member of the community. We are placing any exposed team members off work for a minimum of 14 days. We also work with the team member to get tested.
Original guidance was to refer the team member to their physician, and we have been doing that. We also have been working with Tulare County HHS and other partners to increase testing options. This has been a challenge, but as more testing options become available we will be able to get more team members tested. In fact, later this week, we are working to have mobile testing units in place in Dinuba to assist us with this process.
This is a pandemic and data changes constantly. Just as governmental and health authorities are throttling restrictions up and down to minimize Covid-19 cases, Ruiz Foods is making data based decisions about our operations. As the level of spread in our communities impacts our Team Members, we will consider the impact and run those lines and shifts that we feel can safely run.
At the same time, our Team Members must remember their responsibility too … when they are not at work in the evening or over the weekend. They must remember to stay at home, don’t congregate in large groups, wash their hands frequently and wear face masks when going out to the grocery store or pharmacy. We are in this together and we each must do our part/
At the same time, while we recognize that we are an essential business, what is and will always be more important to Ruiz Foods is the health and safety of the Team Members who work in our facilities.
For more news coverage on the coronavirus and COVID-19 go to ABC30.com/coronavirus
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