After worker’s death, employees at Pilgrim’s Pride plant in NC to get coronavirus test
An employee of the Pilgrim’s Pride poultry processing plant in Sanford died due to COVID-19 complications after developing symptoms at work in April and being hospitalized, according to the employee’s family who lives in Siler City in Chatham County.
Adelfo Ruiz Calvo, a 65-year-old Mexican immigrant and Siler City resident, died May 1 at a Chapel Hill hospital. The Orange County Register of Deeds confirmed documentation of Ruiz Calvo’s death to The News & Observer.
Qué Pasa, a local Spanish news site, interviewed a family member who said Ruiz Calvo was on a ventilator for three weeks.
The infection that cost him his life also infected the rest of his immediate family who quarantined themselves, the family said. Family members identified on Facebook could not be reached by The N&O by Facebook message on Thursday.
“Around April 7 he started to feel a bit badly and the next week he was hospitalized,” a family member told Qué Pasa in Spanish. “They tested him for the coronavirus and it came out positive.”
Two days after being hospitalized, Ruiz Calvo, who was diabetic, was connected to a ventilator until he died. Ruiz Calvo worked at the plant for around 23 years and had lived in Siler City since the 80’s, according to Qué Pasa.
A Facebook account for Adelfo Ruiz lists him as a Siler City resident and immigrant from San Pedro Juchatengo, a town in the state of Oaxaca in Mexico.
Lee County Health Department officials have told The N&O in email they would not be disclosing the number of any meat and poultry plant COVID-19 cases in the county due to privacy concerns.
Testing at Pilgrim’s Pride
Cameron Bruett, a Pilgrim’s spokesperson, told The N&O in an email Tuesday that all employees at the plant will be offered testing through the state next week.
“Given the evolving nature of this situation, we are not attempting to publicly report the number of impacted team members,” said Bruett. “What I can share is we are coordinating with local, state and public health officials, and we are following all CDC and OSHA issued guidance at the plant.”
Bruett said the plant has been taking a range of protective measures to mitigate disease spread: temperature checks, extra personal protective equipment (PPE) required to be worn at all times, increasing spacing in cafeterias and break rooms through dividers and barriers in common area and production floors and removing “vulnerable populations” from the facilities and offering full pay and benefits.
In a Thursday press release, the Lee County Health Department said they will hold free drive-thru community COVID-19 testing on May 27 and 28 at Deep River Elementary School,4000 Deep River Road in Sanford, from 8:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m.
This story was originally published May 21, 2020 at 3:16 PM with the headline "After worker’s death, employees at Pilgrim’s Pride plant in NC to get coronavirus test."
