COVID denialism turns deadly in High River

Last week the NDP and UFCW 401 warned that a coronavirus outbreak was underway at the Cargill meat packing plant in High River, urging Cargill to immediately put the facility staff on paid leave and stop the spread of infection.

Jason Kenney and the UCP, siding with the plant owners over the plant workers, called these warnings alarmist and refused to act. UCP MLA Roger Reid, who represents the Livingstone-Macleod constituency that contains High River, ranted last Thursday that “the misinformation and fear-mongering being put out by the Leader of the Official Opposition is dishonest to hard working Albertans and denigrates the work being done by the Cargill facility to protect their employees.”

On Saturday, agriculture minister Devin Dreeshen said that he’d “directly communicated with workers to reassure them that their worksite is safe.”

Now only days after the UCP tried to shout down everyone warning about this outbreak, a worker from the Cargill plant has died and nearly 400 more are showing symptoms of the virus.

The massive outbreak at the Cargill plant makes up more than 15% of all of Alberta’s current coronavirus cases, and it’s getting out into the surrounding community. CUPE is reporting that employees at the Seasons retirement communities in High River are testing positive for the virus.

Sundries

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