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The Atascadero Unified School District says its food distribution process to the community is safe after reports of food service workers in the district having tested positive for COVID-19.
Superintendent Tom Butler would not confirm whether any workers had tested positive for the virus or were under quarantine, citing privacy laws, but did say the district has had no confirmed reported cases among students or teaching staff.
Food service workers currently serve between 800 and 900 meals daily at various school sites.
Butler says a complete sanitation of every facility is done each day. “Our food service prep areas are absolutely clean to the highest standards… we have a really safe environment there,” he told KSBY.
Butler adds that any employees who begin exhibiting symptoms or signs of illness are told to contact a physician.
While the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department would also not confirm whether any of the county’s more than 80 positive COVID-19 cases were among food service workers in the Atascadero Unified School District, health officials did say they are working to identify positive cases in the county.
The health department adds that “food service workers are monitored closely throughout the year, and are trained on and follow appropriate food safety precautions to reduce the possibility of transmitting COVID-19 or any other foodborne illness. The food safety trainings are mandated by law, and safe food handling practices verified by our Environmental Health Department through regular inspections.”
