Sofina Foods confirms COVID cases at two Ontario facilities

May 11, 2020, Markham, Ont. – Sofina Foods Inc. has confirmed two cases of COVID-19 at two of its facilities in Ontario.

One case was at one of its further processing facilities in Mississauga and the other at the company’s pork facility in Burlington. The two incidents are unrelated.

The company says the employees are doing well and are self-isolating at home, under the guidance of the provincial health authority. The company’s COVID-19 response protocol was immediately deployed to investigate the incidents and mitigate any risks to other employees.

“In addition to the required PPE when in production areas, masks or face shields are now mandatory in production areas at these two sites,” said Daniele Dufour, senior director, communications, at Sofina Foods Inc. “We have a comprehensive manual and protocols in place for such situations and the teams were prepared. This allowed us to quickly assess risks, alert proper stakeholders and identify any action needed in addition to the proactive measures already in place.”

Any employee at each facility who may have been in close contact with the diagnosed employees was asked to self-isolate at home and monitor their health as a cautionary step. The plants are fully operational.

All Sofina Foods sites have deployed a number of measures to prevent the spread of the virus and maintain their ability to produce. They include temperature checks, ongoing sanitation of common areas and offices, staggered breaks, physical distancing in common areas, face shields, Plexiglas separations on the production line, at handwashing stations or in lunch rooms. In addition, the plants had redirected the flow of movement to create a single point of entry and a single exit point at each site.

“We also stopped operations overnight at the Mississauga plant to allow fogging of all welfare areas in addition to daily sanitation,” said Dufour. “Fogging is one of the most effective methods to properly disinfect harder to reach places. In the case of our Burlington plant, the employee had not been at work for a week. Given the sanitation protocols in place at the plant, including regular fogging, we are confident that the areas where the employee went do not pose any contamination concerns.”

Sofina Foods’ Mississauga plant manufactures further processed chicken products and employs more than 180 people. The facility in Burlington produces fresh pork and employs close to 1,000 people.