Charles Patterson, Health Commissioner of the Clark County Combined Health District, said looking back on the entirety of the outbreak, there are some things he believes the district could have done to handle the situation better.
“Not everything was done perfectly,” Patterson said.
The first positive COVID-19 test at Dole was detected on April 22, according to CCCHD. A total of 282 positive coronavirus cases would eventually be connected to the plant, according to the health district.
“Looking at it now, if you were to do a comprehensive look at the situation, one of the first things you would say is that the health district should have come in sooner. And I would agree with that,” Patterson said.
According to emails between Dole, the CCCHD, the Ohio Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, obtained by the News-Sun through a public records request, .Jason Frost, Dole’s plant director, met with CCCHD Director of Environmental Health Larry Shaffer and CCCHD Environmental Health Supervisor Elizabeth Dewitt for the first time on May 6 to discuss ways the plant could better implement social distancing,
“It was nice meeting you both this afternoon,” Frost wrote. “I will update you once our table guards are installed and please keep us informed if you come across anything else that will enhance our abilities to improve safety.”
Eight days later on May 14, Frost sent an email to Shaffer to "follow up on our progress to improve distancing and separation in our facility."
“Attached are pictures of the table dividers that we installed in our cafeteria which gives enhanced protection between employees while they are eating,” Frost wrote. “We added similar dividers in our packing room for added protection. The entire team at Dole Fresh Vegetables is continually looking at our processes and procedures so that we can increase the level of safety in our facilities.”
Frost goes on to say he wants to maintain open communication with Shaffer and the CCCHD.
“We value any additional feedback you may have for us,” Frost wrote.
The Springfield News-Sun reached out to Dole about interviewing Frost for this story and was told that would not be possible. William Goldfield, the director of corporate communications for Dole, said the management of the outbreak at the plant was “a collaboration with the CCCHD since the onset of cases were first brought to our attention” and that the company had no further comment on the outbreak.
Less than a week after Frost and Shaffer met, the CCCHD announced the outbreak at Dole publicly on May 22. By then, 22 employees of the plant had tested positive for COVID-19 and Patterson said then that the virus was “unlikely spread at work.”
Instead, he said it was likely that the virus was transferred among employees outside of the Dole plant — as many of the positive cases socialize outside work, ride together to and from work and some live together.
Because of the total number of cases, Patterson now believes it’s hard to pinpoint if that is still the case.
“The virus was spread at a time where people weren’t separated. We know this spread is by respiratory droplets and that you are more likely to come in contact with that when both parties are not wearing a mask,” Patterson said. “So we know this virus was spread among employees at a close distance when both parties were not wearing a mask.”
On June 13, a mass testing event was held. Patterson said testing at the plant went smoothly and that he wishes the district would have had the “resources” to do it sooner.
“We were sort of a victim of the times in that aspect. The lab capacity just wasn’t in place to handle that size of testing when we wanted it,” Patterson said.
Patterson said the outbreak at the plant cannot be officially ruled controlled until the plant goes 14 days without a new case being associated with it, but since the mass testing of employees on June 13, only a handful of new cases connected to the plant have emerged.
The testing of 829 employees on June 13 turned up 236 positive results less than a week later. Prior to testing, the district had confirmed 38 positive cases connected to the outbreak — bringing the total to 274 positives cases. As of Thursday, the district had identified 282 cases associated with the plant.
Patterson said he’s “thrilled” with those results.
“I’m thrilled where we are at this point. We believe we have it under control,” Patterson said. “The mass testing really helped to stick a fork in things. We are not able to officially call it done, but that’s what I would say.”
According to emails, one day later on June 17, Frost writes to Patterson that Dole “continues to put the health and safety of our employees and community at the forefront.”
“Based on our conversation and using the appropriate local, state and CDC guidelines can you provide guidance by summarizing the timing aspects of when employees can safely return to work?” Frost wrote.
Patterson said at this point in time 230 employees were out of work due to test results or presumptive positives. However, despite the large numbers of employees off the job, Patterson said the district and Dole never had a serious conversation about closing that plant.
“It came up. But based on their policies and their cleaning cycles and the employees we had isolated, it was not a recommendation from us to close the plant. There was no reason to close it because we had already taken the affected folks out,” Patterson said.
At the time there was slight some confusion on who had the authority to close the plant, if necessary – the health district or ODH. That responsibility is the health district’s, Patterson said.
Since the testing event, business has mostly returned to normal at the Dole plant — with some new precautions put in place. In a statement sent to the News-Sun on June 16, Goldfield said additional safety protocols have been implemented at the plant since the outbreak began in late April.
“These additional measures include increasing the distancing and separation of workers in our facility, employing wellness questionnaires and administering temperature checks prior to employee entrance in the facility,” the statement said.
Patterson said the plant has followed all guidance that the district, ODH and the CDC has given them. Guidance given included asking the plant to install plastic barriers between employees, requiring face masks at all times and having a cleaning crew come in nightly to do deep cleanings of the plant.
When looking at the Dole outbreak as a whole, Patterson said it’s important to know that even though not everything was done “perfectly,” when handling the Dole outbreak, the district is fully prepared in case of future workplace outbreaks.
“I’m confident that now, with the set of tools that we have, and the additional contact tracers we have hired, if this were to begin today, we don’t believe it would get this large,” Patterson said.
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