Olymel has temporarily closed its hog slaughter and cutting plant in Yamachiche, Quebec, for 14 days, due to a growing number of cases of COVID-19 cases among employees.
According to a press release from the company, the number of employee cases as of March 29 has reached nine. The decision to take the plant off-line was made partly to protect the workers, and partly to limit community transmission, the company stated.
About 1,000 employees are affected by the temporary closure of the plant. Olymel is offering its employees “all the help and information they need in order to benefit from the government’s current financial assistance programs.”
The Mauricie-et-du-Centre-du-Quebec Integrated University Health and Social Services Centre public health department recommends that all employees who have worked in the plant since March 12 to self-isolate as a precaution, monitor themselves for symptoms and adopt social distancing measures.
“On behalf of Olymel management, I would like to express our gratitude to all of the employees of the Yamachiche plant for their efforts since the beginning of this health crisis,” Rejean Nadeau, president and CEO of Olymel said the release. “In collaboration with human resources, I would ask all of our other employees working in plants that are still in operation to exercise constant vigilance to avoid the spread of COVID-19. Our company and its employees will therefore be able to contribute to the continued operations of the agro-processing industry, which governments consider to be an essential activity for supplying distribution networks with the products needed to feed a population that is mostly in lockdown.”
Olymel is the meat division of Sollio Cooperative Group, formerly known as La Coop fédérée. According to the Poultry International Top Companies rankings, Sollio Cooperative Group is the 20th largest broiler company in North America. It is also involved in turkey production.
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