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Kittitas Co. investigating potential coronavirus outbreak at Ellensburg food plant

Kittitas Co. health officials are investigating a potential coronavirus outbreak at Twin City Foods, where one person tested positive for coronavirus.

ELLENSBURG, Wash. — Kittitas County health officials are investigating a potential coronavirus outbreak at Twin City Foods, a frozen vegetable processing plant, where one person tested positive for coronavirus.

The county incident management team is in the process of testing all employees. The team collected 158 samples on Friday through a drive-through system, the county said.

If anyone tests positive, the county health department will try to track down others that person may have come into contact with, a system called contact tracing, which helps contain the virus.

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Twin City Foods remains closed while the company deep cleans the facility, the county said.

Kittitas County said it has 16 total coronavirus cases to date, 15 of whom have recovered. The 16th, a Twin City Foods employee, is in stable condition.

The county is trying to move into Phase 2 of the state’s reopening plan, which would allow shops, salons, and restaurants with limited capacity to reopen. That application is now on hold, the county said.

In order to advance to the next phase, a county must have no new COVID-19-positive residents for the past three weeks.

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