CALGARY (660NEWS) — Two more workers at the Olymel pork processing plant in Red Deer have died from COVID-19.
The plant has been closed since last week, with an outbreak of COVID-19 linked to hundreds of cases.
United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) announced Friday that Henry De Leon, a worker who has been with the company since 2005, died in hospital Wednesday.
Alberta Health also confirming Friday that a woman in her 60s who worked at the plant also died this week, raising the death toll in that outbreak to three.
READ MORE: Sixteen new cases of B.1.1.7 variant identified in Alberta
UFCW is investigating the circumstances around De Leon’s death, but they believe he contracted the virus shortly after they first proposed a temporary closure.
Shortly after the announcement of the additional deaths at the plant, Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley took to Twitter to offer her condolences.
My condolences to the family of Henry De Leon, a second employee at Olymel to die from the COVID-19 outbreak at the facility.
Going to work should not be a death sentence for any Albertan. We need to do more to protect workers' health during this pandemic and after.— Rachel Notley (@RachelNotley) February 26, 2021
Out of 500 hundred cases reported from the outbreak at the plant, 156 of them remain active.
