Twenty fish workers became infected with the coronavirus after an outbreak of COVID-19 on the seafood factory trawler Follow in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, city officials said.
According to a press release from the city of Unalaska, the trawler, owned by the fishing company O’Hara Corporation, had a crew of 40 employees.
C.According to the Anchorage Daily News, rew members from Araho arrived in Unalaska from Seattle on Wednesday. Some crew members said upon arrival that they had symptoms of the coronavirus, According to the news outlet, Unalaska city manager Erin Reinders said.
After testing, half of the crew was found to have the virus. Reinders said a plan is being developed to care for the crew members with the virus and those without the virus.
The news comes as seafood and ship processors in the Aleutian Islands have seen a recent increase in coronavirus cases. Five cases of the virus were reported on the Island Enterprise vessel, owned by Trident Seafoods, on Thursday, according to Daily News.
Another Trident factory in Akutan was closed due to an outbreak. The plant is the largest seafood processing plant in North America, and 266 of its 705 employees contracted the coronavirus at the facility.
Reinders said there are 57 cases of coronavirus in the fishing industry in the city of Unalaska.
According to data from The New York Times, Alaska has reported more than 53,000 coronavirus infections since the start of the pandemic and 253 deaths.