FRESNO, Calif. (KGPE) — On Thursday Merced County Health Department ordered the Foster Farms Factory in Livingston to close until they can safely re-open after approval by a health officer.
Gurpal Samra is the Mayor of Livingston. He said although the health department ordered them to close the factory said they couldn’t in the time given to them.
“On Thursday they health department gave them twelve hours and Foster Farms came back and said 12 hours is not enough,” said Samra.
According to the health department they extended the order by 48 hours and are now supposed to close on Saturday August 29 at 6 p.m. and stay closed until conditions are deemed safe.
But, Samra said the warning signs were always there.
“The last few weeks I have had over 100 calls from employees telling me how unsafe they feel and feel like they don’t want to go to work,” said Samra.
According to Merced County Health Department there has been eight employees of that factory who have died from COVID related illnesses and 358 employees who have tested positive.
But Foster Farms only confirms 349 positive cases with 239 of those individuals having been cleared to return to work. Samra said the potential impact of the economy is severe.
“If it weren’t for Foster Farms Livingston would have a severe economic impact not only that but Merced County and Stanislaus county would be equally affected,” said Samra.
Samra said Foster Farms employs close to 3,000 people at the Livingston factory and the population of Livingston is around 14,000.
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