Good Shepherd to 'deep clean' Hampden site after employee tests positive for COVID
File photo courtesy / Good Shepherd Food Bank
Good Shepherd Food Bank said it will temporarily close its site in Hampden after an employee tested positive for COVID-19. Its Auburn location, where most front-line employees are based, remains fully operational.
Good Shephard Food Bank, which is headquartered in Auburn, on Tuesday announced it will temporarily close its operations in Hampden for a "deep clean" after an employee tested positive for COVID-19.
The employee concerned was last on site on Sept. 1, and the "limited number" of employees and volunteers who may have been exposed have been contacted, the nonprofit said. There were no immediate details on the numbers.
“The health and safety of our employees and community is our top priority. We are taking a more aggressive approach than required and necessary, but we think it’s the appropriate response for this specific situation due to the nature of the employee’s role,” Kristen Miale, president of Good Shepherd Food Bank, said in a news release.
“As front-line responders in the midst of a global pandemic, it was never a question of ‘if’ the Food Bank staff would be directly impacted, but ‘when,'" she added. "With an abundance of caution, the Food Bank is temporarily suspending operations at our Hampden location for two days to conduct a deep clean.”
Miale, a 2015 Mainebiz Woman to Watch and a 2020 Business Leader of the Year honoree, also said the nonprofit will keep proactive precautions in place, including wearing face masks, social distancing and a self-screening check-in app that employees are asked to fill out each workday.
“We are rapidly assessing the impact of temporarily suspending operations in Hampden and working on solutions to continue to ensure that our partners receive the food they need to support Mainers struggling with hunger, all while continuing to follow CDC guidelines and safety procedures," she added.
Normal operations at the Hampden facility are scheduled to resume this Thursday after the cleaning.
Good Shepard said Tuesday that its Auburn location, where most front-line employees are based, is unaffected at this time and remains fully operational.
As the largest hunger-relief organization in Maine, Good Shepherd Food Bank provides for Mainers facing hunger by distributing nutritious food to more than 500 partner agencies across the state, including food pantries, meal sites, schools, and senior programs.
Together with its network, the food bank leads a statewide effort to combat hunger on multiple fronts including advocacy, nutrition education and through strategic partnerships.
In 2019, Good Shepherd distributed more than 25 million meals to families, children and seniors in need throughout Maine.
On Tuesday, state health officials said another 15 new coronavirus cases have been reported in Maine, bringing the total to 4,713 as of noon Tuesday. Of that number, 4,244 have been confirmed positive, while 469 are classified as probable, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. To date, 429 people in Maine have been hospitalized with COVID-19.
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