LA apparel factory is currently the “largest outbreak” health official says – NBC Los Angeles

With the surge in local coronavirus cases, LA’s Public Health Department states that factory work is often responsible. Last Friday, LA County Public Health Extended the closure of LA apparel, A manufacturer of face covers and a former creator of casual wear. The agency, which spotlighted a factory with four workers who died at COVID-19, said there were no signs of improvement.

“Of the 2,290 employees at the company, 375 were positive, which is the largest outbreak to date,” said Muntu Davis, a health officer at LA County.

Defenders are doing what they can to help feed workers suffer the devastation of pandemics and plant closures.

I’m not surprised. If the health of the worker was not a priority from the beginning, the health of the worker could be a dangerous place.

Marissa Nunez, Garment Worker Center

LA apparel owner Dov Charney said in writing that he respects public health closure orders and takes all possible steps to protect his employees from COVID-19. The Department of Public Health says it receives 23,000 complaints a week about wholesale warehouses, meat processing plants, and other “potential health protocol violations.”

LA Public Health is taking tough action against local clothing manufacturers who have shown “severe” violations of infection control protocols. Beverly White will report NBC LA at 11 pm on Friday, July 10, 2020.

“They are large employers with large numbers of low-wage workers. Workers spend long shifts together in nearby indoor spaces,” he said.

“I find it really disappointing that workers will be required to boost the economy without proper protection,” Nunez said.

Public health cites LA apparel due to social distance and lack of infection control, and does not mention the immediate resumption of this vast factory floor.

“Manufacturers are still shut down, waiting for some additional activity to make them compliant,” Davis said.

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Please read the full text of Los Angeles Apparel below.

We want to make it clear that we are taking every possible step to protect our employees from COVID-19. Since the outbreak of the virus, and long before masks have been recommended or required, all employees of apparel in Los Angeles have worn them. We applied social distance requirements and placed the machine and rest area more than 6 feet apart. Hand disinfection stations and disinfection stations are installed throughout the plant. Employee and visitor body temperature will be tested and hand sanitizer will be dispensed before entering the facility. Regular cleaning and disinfection of workstations and equipment was performed. We have installed a face recognition time clock to reduce the amount of surface employees have to touch all day. We repeat the test of COVID-19 for 5 weeks.

Repeated testing, as suggested by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), allowed us to identify individuals who tested positive for quarantine. Illness and loss of life between our team and our community is absolutely heartbreaking.

Unlike the official Ministry of Health report, we provided information about employee infection rates and positive/negative test results as soon as possible. We never withheld the data — the data required by the Department of Health could take days to procure because it relied on getting personal information from employees. In fact, prior to being contacted by the Ministry of Health, we actively contacted their offices and warned them of the prevalence of employees, the majority of whom were Latino. We recognize that this is probably an indicator of a potentially large problem that the public sector has not addressed.

The Healthcare Clinic, where our factory serves the local community of South Los Angeles, tested 7,000 people between 15 April and 30 June and tested 1,050 positively. This 15% positive rate is reflected in employee testing as well. Of the approximately 2,100 employees tested between 15 April and 30 June, 300 had positive results.

Employee infection rates and positive test results reflect a larger systematic problem in Los Angeles. This is a health system and government problem addressing the severe historical and persistent racial inequality that was violently revealed during COVID. -19. The Los Angeles Times recently reported that the Latin community is twice as likely to be affected by COVID-19 and that the infection rate is steep among Latino populations. It is morally irresponsible for the Department of Health to speak of infection rates in our factories without addressing the connection to the whole problem: The Latin American community in Los Angeles has provided an unclear path to healthcare systems. More vulnerable to COVID-19 There is little guidance for non-native English speakers who are asking for a test or for those who test positive. At that time, we raised our concerns to the Department of Health and requested the support of routine inspections, which had already helped us carry out independently. They chose instead to obligate the closure of our factory.

We would absolutely respect the order to remain closed and make it clear that it was reopened with the written permission of the Department of Health, which later changed positions. We did not resume on their command. We understand that the Department of Health faces many challenges in responding to the public’s obligations. We are confident that this will not be easy and will support any directive that can reduce the number of incidents in Los Angeles and our community.

We are committed to doing everything in our power to provide our employees with ongoing support, and we are happy to make the necessary investments to keep our employees safe at work. However, we are deeply disappointed with the fact that the larger issues affecting the Latin American community have not been effectively addressed and managed by local government officials. These are the affected colleagues, family and friends, and we want to protect them and keep them safe.