Dozens of employees at an Oregon seafood plant have tested positive for the new coronavirus, officials said Thursday.
Clatsop County officials said in a statement that “the Oregon Health Authority is taking the lead in arranging for quarantine of the affected individuals, and conducting tracing of family and other contacts of those workers.”
According to The Astorian, 77 workers at Pacific Seafood have tested positive for the deadly virus, in the county’s largest workplace outbreak since the beginning of the pandemic.
None of the employees who tested positive had to be hospitalized.
The seafood processor, which tested about 160 workers earlier this week using a private laboratory, has announced that it would expand testing to all employees at the plant, “out of an abundance of caution, and to provide peace of mind for our team members,” John King, the general manager at the Warrenton plant, said in a statement.
Approximately 140 more tests will be conducted Thursday and Friday.
“Based on past experience with widespread testing, we anticipate this next phase of testing may also include a large number of asymptomatic positive tests results,” added King, who has linked the new cases to what he described as “Labor Day social activities.”
In May, another outbreak at the plant was linked to 15 cases of COVID-19: 11 workers and four contacts.
In June, the Clackamas, Oregon-based company reported 187 cases tied to its Newport plants, according to The Associated Press.
County Commissioner Mark Kujala, called this week’s outbreak “shocking,” adding that health and county officials were meeting Thursday to plan for a potential surge in hospitalizations.
On Thursday, Oregon health officials reported 382 new confirmed and presumptive cases of coronavirus Thursday, bringing the state total to 31,865 since the pandemic began. According to local television station KATU, that number represents the highest increase in new positive cases since mid-July.
Officials also reported two coronavirus-related deaths, bringing the death toll in the state to 539.
