August 24, 2021 — Sitka’s recent uptick in COVID cases over the weekend can be attributed, in part, to an outbreak at a local seafood plant.
When the Sitka Unified Command met on Wednesday (8-18-21) Public Health Nurse Denise Ewing said the outbreak occurred at Sitka Sound Seafoods.
“It was several of their employees that became positive. They were very advantageous, and made sure that they quickly worked with me,” Ewing said. “[It] could have been much worse than what it was.”
Ewing said she’s been working with state epidemiologists and the seafood company to mitigate the spread, securing housing for all employees who were exposed to quarantine, and shut down some areas of the plant.
“And we enforced it, and I was able to activate that [mitigation plan] and to keep it from spreading. And that’s exactly what we’ve done. We’ve contained it, it is contained.” she said. Employees are testing every three days and will continue that process for at least two weeks.
Sitka Sound Seafoods is a subsidiary of Seattle-based North Pacific Seafoods. In a written statement, North Pacific Seafoods Vice President of Human Resources Leauri Moore said several employees tested positive in mid-July. The plant discovered a new group of cases over the weekend as a result of regular testing. She said the employees are receiving isolation and quarantine pay.