‘Major spike’: 200 employees at Kansas City firm have COVID-19, health officials say
Update: How COVID-19 spread to 200 at Aspen Paper Products Inc. Story here.
About 200 employees at a paper product manufacturer have tested positive for coronavirus, about two weeks after the first case was discovered at the plant, the Kansas City Health Department announced Tuesday.
Aspen Paper Products Inc. reported its first case in mid-May, according to a news release. The virus continued to spread, and on Friday and Saturday the company provided testing for its employees. Before that effort, the Health Department was aware of about 24 of the cases, said Michelle Pekarsky, the department’s spokeswoman.
The rest had not yet been reported in the department’s daily case totals, meaning the city will likely see a jump in its report of new COVID-19 cases in the coming days as the department verifies where infected individuals live, Pekarsky said.
“If we had about 200 or so — and we only had 24 before then, and then all those were found this last weekend during testing — that’s going to show up as a major spike,” she said.
Pekarsky said the department is speaking with the company daily.
“The health department is providing the company with detailed recommendations to help mitigate the outbreak, including sanitization measures, personal protection equipment and physical distancing instructions, temperature checks before shifts, and a testing schedule to identify those who unknowingly have the virus and are passing it to others at the business,” the release says.
As of Tuesday, the city had 1,183 cases, including 50 new ones.
Aspen did not immediately return a request for comment.
The company is at 4231 Clary Blvd., off Manchester Trafficway and Interstate 435. Its website says that Aspen, established in 1977, “is a family owned manufacturer of disposable paper plates, cups, bowls and lunch bags.”
The site also says: “Under Federal guidelines Aspen Products Inc. is considered an essential manufacturer and we are continuing manufacturing operations.”
This story was originally published June 2, 2020 at 8:38 PM.
