SCVNews.com | The county continues to close its LA plant after four employees die at COVID-19. Over 300 positive tests

Following the investigation of four COVID-19 deaths by Los Angeles apparel employees, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (DPH) has ordered downtown Los Angeles garment makers (American apparel branch) to continue closing. It was An example of a virus among its workers.

DPH initially started operations on June 27 after discovering a serious breach of a compulsory control order for public health infectious diseases and after failing to cooperate with DPH’s investigation into the reported outbreak of COVID-19. It has stopped. Friday’s order mandates the continued closure of this facility, which follows a series of actions intended to oblige the company to comply with medical orders.

“The deaths of four dedicated clothing workers are disastrous and tragic,” said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Public Health Service. “Business owners and employers have a corporate, moral and social responsibility to provide employees and their families with a safe working environment that complies with the instructions of all healthcare professionals. This responsibility is more important than ever as we continue to fight this deadly virus.”

Three of these tragic deaths occurred in early June and one death occurred in early July. DPH investigated these deaths in July, shortly after learning about them.

“Our greatest concern is the safety of all employees and their families. This department continues to actively monitor Los Angeles apparel and other manufacturing worksites to ensure that all employees are infected in the workplace environment. It fully implements control and remote safety requirements.” “Our department is working to accelerate the response to these situations, which requires the full cooperation of the business community.”

“I am distressed by the deaths of workers in Los Angeles apparel. This raises awareness of the urgent need to protect workers and that they know they have their rights. “I hope,” said Marissa Nuncio, director of the Garment Worker Center. “We call workers here on the Department of Public Health hotline to report dangerous situations and to help them find solutions for their health during a pandemic, we are here to help. We encourage workers to know that they are in.”

On June 19, DPH was notified by a medical institution concerned about a possible outbreak in the factory. DPH immediately initiated an outbreak investigation and worked with the company to identify the extent of the outbreak and provide resources to ensure employee safety. As part of their immediate response, DPH required the company to compare a list of all employees with the test results provided to DPH. This is an important tool for determining the range of possible occurrences as DPH can track employees against a list of confirmed positive or negative COVID-19 individual DPHs received from the test lab. The company failed to provide the list after multiple requests. That week, the company reported 151 cases.

On June 26, inspectors visited the site and observed multiple violations of distance requirements and infection control protocols. This includes the use of cardboard as a barrier between workers.

Based on a site visit, the company did not yet provide a complete list of employees, so DPH issued a health officer order on June 27 to cover all safety and infections to ensure employee safety. The plant was shut down until the protocol was met. The company was provided with a detailed description of the steps required to restart the factory.

On July 4, DPH received an incomplete list of all employees of the company, reporting 198 positive results. DPH used an incomplete employee list to compare the results provided directly to DPH by the reporting lab. After that, DPH was able to confirm that more than 300 positive cases had occurred as of July 10.

On July 7, DPH will only allow employees who had a positive reaction before June 26 to return to work if they have been free of fever for 3 days without using fever-preventing drugs (Tylenol, Motrin, etc.) Sent a letter to inform the company, ibuprofen or Advil) and its symptoms have been resolved. The Health Officer’s order ordering the company to close was still in effect.

Later, Los Angeles apparel apparently violated the orders of health officials by resuming with a new employee. This was discovered by DPH, even though Los Angeles apparel tried to prevent DPH employees from entering the factory. On July 9, the Department of Public Health issued a directive ordering Los Angeles apparel to cease operations, again detailing the exact steps required before canceling the order.

Currently, Los Angeles apparel is being ordered to close until the facility can demonstrate full compliance with public health obligations.

The Public Health Department’s Environmental Health Department has an ongoing unannounced inspection process to ensure compliance with all applicable laws, including compliance with the COVID-19 Protocol in the clothing and food manufacturing industry. We are strengthening.

Employers should report to DPH if there are more than two confirmed cases of COVID-19 at work.

DPH operates a hotline for people to report unsafe working conditions. Employees are encouraged to call (888) 700-9995 to report any concerns or violations. Reports may be anonymous and there are no questions about personal information such as immigration status.