A second death has been linked to the Cargill meat processing plant in High River, Alberta, home of the highest single-site COVID-19 outbreak in Canada.
Armando Sallegue died Tuesday.
His son Arwyn works at the plant and Mr. Sallegue, a widower who lives in the Philippines, had been on family visit to Canada since early this year.
He had been on a respirator and in an induced coma and died on Tuesday, May 5 in Canada, which is May 6 in his native Philippines.
Armando Sallegue’s death was the second linked to the outbreak at the Cargill plant north of High River. His son pointed out that his father died on what would have been his deceased wife’s birthday in the Philippines. (Arwyn Sallegue)
Arwyn Sallegue told Radio 660 News in Calgary that the date was a comforting one for his father because it was his late wife’s birthday.
“My dad keeps telling my brother that my mom keeps telling him in his dream, ‘Come and we will go together.’”
Last month, a 67-year-old woman, Hiep Bui Nguyen, who worked at the Cargill plant for more than 20 years, died from the virus.
Her death, along with over 1,500 COVID-19 cases — including nearly 950 employees –, prompted Cargill to shut the plant down for two weeks.
Hiep Bui Nguyen, a Cargill meat plant worker who died of COVID-19, is shown in a handout photo. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO)
Last week, Cargill announced it was reopening the plant and said the workers were expected to show up.
All week, members of the Alberta Labour Movement, including representatives from the workers’ union, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 401, have been outside the facility to show support as well as hand out masks.
Nga Nguyen, husband of Hiep Bui Nguyen, a Cargill worker who died from COVID-19, speaks to the media in Calgary, Alberta., Monday, May 4, 2020, amid a worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)
Last weekend, the union surveyed more than 600 Cargill workers in four languages – English, Spanish, Tagalog and Punjabi.
It found 85 per cent said they were afraid to return to work and 80 per cent said they did not want the plant to reopen Monday.
A large percentage of the workers at Alberta meat plants are Filipino, some of whom are temporary foreign workers (TFWs) and others who are permanent residents.
With files from CBC News (Drew Anderson)
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