Wrangell considers paying $60,000 for cannery worker testing

Sea Level operates in at Heritage Harbor in Wrangell. The plant is part of Pacific Seafood, based in Oregon. (June Leffler/ KSTK)

The City of Wrangell could pay for COVID-19 testing for Sea Level’s fish plant workers. The Assembly will review a proposal Wednesday to authorize $60,000 towards multiple tests for around 50 seafood processing workers. 

About half of those workers are from out-of-state, the fish processing plant manager says. A city memo says it would test plant workers six times between now and the end of October. 

RELATED: Seafood industry workers test positive for COVID-19, marking first confirmed cases in Unalaska

COVID-19 plan obtained by KSTK says Sea Level’s seasonal workers would quarantine for 14 days before mixing with other employees. But it leaves open the possibility of a shorter quarantine for workers arriving later in the season.

The city says it wants to draft an agreement with the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium to conduct tests. The funds would be drawn from Wrangell’s share of federal CARES Act stimulus money.

RELATED: Alaska’s fishing communities have plans to contain COVID-19. Now they’ll be put to the test.

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