Birds Eye Foods, two nursing homes battling COVID-19
By Heather Ruenz
Staff Writer
Birds Eye Foods is the first company in Walworth County known to have an outbreak of the coronavirus. The food processing plant had about 20 employees test positive for COVID-19 as of last weekend, according to a company representative.
Dan Hare, of Conagra, which owns Birds Eye Foods, said the company has 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,” Hare said.
He said the company has decided to suspend operations in the vast majority of the Birds Eye facility until April 27. And, if needed the company might also take the help of a reputed health and safety service (like an h&s consultant) until the situation is restored back to normal.
“The areas of the facility that will remain open have appropriate physical distance between workers and Plexiglas barriers,” he added.
Hare said Conagra will continue to pay its employees who are not working 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.
The decision to reduce operations at the plant came on the heels of a report by the Janesville Gazette on Saturday after the newspaper received an internal company email from an employee of Birds Eye.
The employee expressed concern about safety at the food processing plant and requested anonymity to avoid retribution for speaking out, the Gazette reported.
At its plant in Darien, Birds Eye employs approximately 800 people, according to Hare.
“The health and safety of our employees is our top priority,” he said.
Jump in cases
Walworth County reported an increase in confirmed COVID-19 cases late last week when the number jumped from 49 to 72. At the time, the county reported the increase was due to an outbreak at a local facility. On Saturday, the Health and Human Services Department confirmed the facility is Geneva Lake Manor in Lake Geneva.
As of Wednesday, the numbers are 95 confirmed cases and seven deaths. That report also reveals there are four patients currently hospitalized, there have been 24 recoveries and 60 people are isolated at their primary residence.
Walworth County’s health department issued a public health order that listed conditions for Geneva Lake Manor.
Those conditions include sharing a list of names of people who’ve had close contact with confirmed cases, not allowing staff to work at other facilities and restricting residents including not allowing group activities.
Geneva Lake Manor cannot have additional staff or residents test positive or be likely to have COVID-19 for at least 14 days, and all staff and residents must be released from isolation by the county HHS department to have the order lifted.
Carlo Nevicosi, deputy director for the county’s HHS, also said on Saturday there was an outbreak at a second facility but said the facility had requested it be allowed to let the public know. On Monday, that facility, Holton Manor in Elkhorn, revealed it had received confirmation that individuals at the nursing home had been diagnosed with COVID-19.
“We are doing everything we can to ensure we stop the spread of COVID-19 within our facility, including staying in constant communication with local and state health officials to ensure we are taking all the appropriate steps,” administrator Jessica Kuhart wrote.
She said per direction from the Centers for Disease Control, Holton Manor suspended visitors as of March 13. Kuhart said the staff at Holton Manor understand families are concerned about their loved ones and encouraged them to stay connected through video chat, calls, texts and other social media formats.
“We understand this is a very difficult and stressful time,” Kuhart wrote. “Please know that we are strictly adhering to all directions from the local and state health department.
Nevicosi said Tuesday morning the county has “no plans right now to issue a health officer order for Holton Manor.”
Increase in testing
Outside of the additional cases due to the outbreaks, the overall rise in cases the past couple of weeks in the county is at least partially attributable to more private laboratories receiving authorization to test for COVID-19, which provides physicians the opportunity to test people who are not severely ill.
Delays in testing data have skewed Walworth County’s numbers, according to officials. Around April 10, the Public Health Department was receiving results for tests that were performed in late March. The department has monitored the suspected cases while awaiting lab confirmation and observed some recovering fully before testing data was available.
The increase in confirmed cases has not overwhelmed available health care resources, health officials report.
“Our health care systems are strong and our health care workers are doing phenomenal work,” Walworth County Public Health Officer Erica Bergstrom said.
“We are hopeful because we are seeing people recover, including some who have been hospitalized,” she added.
The virus is particularly hard on those 65 and older, and people with underlying medical conditions.
“We extend our sympathies to the families and friends of those we recently lost. We must continue to work together to protect our most vulnerable neighbors,” Bergstrom said.
The Division of Public Health is not publicly releasing the locations of the deaths or confirmed cases, although this information is being shared with dispatch centers.
“The virus is widespread throughout our communities. If you have been in close contact with a confirmed case, you will be notified. Please continue to adhere to physical distancing practices to control the spread of the infection,” Bergstrom said.
Public Health officials advise people who feel sick to stay at home and remain there until they are fever-free for three days without fever-reducing medication, have significant improvement in symptoms, and seven days have passed since your symptoms first appeared.
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.
