Foster Farms has conducted more than 6,000 tests and implemented other protective measures in response to coronavirus outbreaks at four of its poultry processing plants in California.
After months of escalating controversy, the company managed to drop the positivity rate to less than 1%. The remaining positive employees have been self-isolating. The outbreaks led to nearly 400 positive cases in the plants and eight deaths. The company attributed the cases to the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions in Stanislaus and Fresno Counties at the start of summer. County health departments claimed the company was slow to respond. The Livingston plant reopened earlier in September.
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The outbreaks spawned intense debate among lawmakers over notifications of workplace infections and the shaming of businesses. The bill, AB 685, required infections to be made public immediately. The governor signed the bill into law last week.
