Perdue Foundation Donates $1M to Help Combat Hunger

MILFORD, Del.- Perdue Farms has temporarily closed its Milford poultry processing plant after two employees tested positive for COVID-19. 

Perdue spokesperson Diana Souder on Monday said that after receiving word of the two positive cases, the company immediately enacted its pandemic response protocols, which follow strict guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including:

  • Notifying and coordinating response procedures with all pertinent parties (Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, onsite USDA inspector, Perdue HR and Wellness Staff, Coronavirus Response Leader, and facility Director of Operations);
  • Interviewing the affected employees to determine movements and contact with others;
  • Checking recordings from internal cameras to see who the Associates may have been in close contact with (within six feet and longer than 10 minutes);
  • Increasing the company's cleaning protocols, which the company said it has extended further by closing the facility Monday to conduct a top-to-bottom cleaning and sanitization using CDC guidelines for this process, and will reopen Tuesday;
  • Notifying employees who were potentially exposed to the affected employee and providing them with guidance for conducting a risk assessment of their potential exposure using CDC guidelines.

Souder said the affected employees are in quarantine for 14 days while still receiving pay and no attendance penalty, and may return to work when approved to do so by a healthcare provider.

According to Souder, Perdue is continuing the incremental preventative measures at all of its facilities that were implemented in early March to protect the health of employees, including increased sanitation and cleaning (above and beyond the full sanitization that all facilities receive every 24 hours), and extended the hours of many of the onsite wellness centers at facilities, which are available to all employees and their families free of charge. Additionally, the company is implementing temperature checking across all facilities and reminding employees to follow the CDC guidelines for proper hygiene.

Souder noted that per the CDC, COVID-19 is not known to be a food-borne pathogen and, “because of poor survivability of these coronaviruses on surfaces, there is likely very low risk of spread from food products or packaging that are shipped over a period of days or weeks at ambient, refrigerated, or frozen temperatures.” Souder said Perdue continues to regulate strict preventive safety and sanitation standards in all of its facilities. 

Recommended for you