By Heather Ruenz
Staff Writer
The Wisconsin National Guard was set to conduct testing for COVID-19 at the Birds Eye Food plant in Darien late this week, according to an official with the Walworth County Public Health Department.
Carlo Nevicosi, deputy director for the county’s HHS department, said the request to assistance from the National Guard was made last weekend and was one the county and the company agreed on.
“This was done collaboratively with Birdseye. It was not a decision we made unilaterally,” Nevicosi said.
A couple of weeks ago, an outbreak at Birds Eye was announced with a reported 22 employees that had tested positive for COVID-19.
Dan Hare, of Conagra, which owns Birds Eye Foods, said at that time the company had been proactive in trying to prevent the spread of COVID-19 at its Darien facility.
“(The company is) using social distancing techniques, screening temperatures, increasing the sanitation throughout the facility, and encouraging the use of masks,” he said.
But by last week, the number of Birds Eye employees who had tested positive jumped to 100.
Nevicosi said the decision to request the National Guard for on-site testing at the plant is “the most efficient way to get good test data, understand the scope of the outbreak, and help Birds Eye build a plan to gradually reopen.”
The National Guard was to conduct testing May 7 and 8 including testing employees as well as their family members and household members.
Earlier this week, a Captain Joe Trovato of the Wisconsin National Guard, said they will continue to anticipate needs across the state in response to the coronavirus pandemic. He confirmed they had received a request to assist in Walworth County.
“We have received a request for assistance from Walworth County to send a specimen collection team there May 7 and 8,” Trovato said.
He said the team anticipates collecting approximately 1,400 samples over those two days.
When the outbreak occurred, Hare said the company planned to continue to pay its employees who were not working at the time as a result of the operations at Birds Eye being suspended.
“We will also pay employees who need to be away from work due to a COVID-19 related illness, including people who have been diagnosed, as well as employees who have been exposed to the virus or are not feeling well,” Hare said.
For the latest information, visit the Centers for Disease Control website at cdc.gov, the State Department of Health Services at dhs.wisconsin.gov or the Walworth County website at co.walworth.wi.us.
