At Least 375 Los Angeles Apparel Employees Now Positive For COVID-19
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – An outbreak among employees at Los Angeles Apparel's garment manufacturing facilities in South L.A. continues to grow.
At least 375 employees of L.A. Apparel's manufacturing facilities, which are located around the 1000 block of East 59th Street, have now been infected with COVID-19, L.A. County Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis confirmed Thursday.
The plant has been shut down since June 27 after L.A. County Department of Public Health inspectors found "flagrant violations of mandatory public health infection control orders."
On July 10, DPH reported that 300 employees at the plant had tested positive. At least four of them have died of the disease.
Los Angeles Apparel employs approximately 2,290 people.
"The manufacturer is still closed pending some additional activities to bring them into compliance and for us to finish investigating any potential contacts that may still need to be under quarantine at that location," Davis said Thursday.
Workplaces most susceptible to outbreaks are food-processing companies and distribution facilities, including meat-packing plants, manufacturers, garment factories and wholesale warehouses, he said.
"These workplaces have several things in common," he said. "They're large employers with large numbers of low-wage workers, and they have workers who are spending long shifts together in close proximity and in indoor spaces."
Back in May, coronavirus outbreaks struck nine industrial facilities in Vernon, including the Smithfield Foods-owned Farmer John meatpacking plant.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)
