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Ariane Krol
Press
“We sent the tests at the end of April, beginning of May,” said Dr Leduc.
The role of Public Health is then to advise the company on the best way to use these tests, but the decision to do so or not is up to them, he said. “It has to have trained staff and do them according to standards. ”
The slaughterhouse has been temporarily closed since May 13 due to an outbreak that has resulted in more than 120 cases.
The fact that the employer did not use the rapid tests available to it, information reported by Radio-Canada on Thursday morning, prompted many questions during a press briefing.
“It is up to them why the company did not use them,” said Dr Leduc.
“The possible resumption of activities gradually is scheduled for May 23” upon filing of an action plan from the company and with support from Public Health and the CNESST, he also announced.
The Dr Leduc did not want to make comparisons with another outbreak of about 94 cases that occurred a little earlier in another slaughterhouse in his region, Aliments Asta, in Saint-Alexandre-de-Kamouraska, which used rapid tests and no did not have to close.
At Du Breton, “the use of rapid tests could have helped, now it’s not a magic wand”.
These tests can be “a useful tool if they are used well by staff who take them at the right times”, but “we know that they are not perfect,” he said.
“If the measures are relaxed because everyone thinks it is negative then we will lose.”
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