News July 01, 2020
COVID-19 Outbreak Shuts Down Promo Supplier
Los Angeles Apparel had to close three facilities in California after more than 150 workers tested positive for COVID-19.
An outbreak of COVID-19 at three of Los Angeles Apparel’s (asi/67971) manufacturing sites in South Los Angeles has prompted local health officials to order the facilities shuttered indefinitely.
Data from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health indicates that 67 people tested positive at one facility, 61 at another and 23 at a third – a total of 151 confirmed coronavirus cases.
“After detection of multiple COVID-19 cases, some businesses have closed briefly for disinfection, but rarely has Public Health closed a facility indefinitely,” reported NBCLA.
Los Angeles Apparel founder Dov Charney told NBCLA that the shutdown order has put 2,000 workers off the job. “It’s a really unfortunate situation,” Marissa Nuncio, director of the advocacy group Garment Worker Center (GWC), told NBCLA. Some LA Apparel employees are GWC members.
Charney is best known as the founder of American Apparel (asi/35297), a brand that’s now owned by Top 40 supplier Gildan (asi/56842) and with which Charney has no affiliation.
Los Angeles Apparel, which Charney started in 2016, specializes in making fashion-forward basics. As the coronavirus crisis escalated into a full-scale pandemic, Los Angeles Apparel pivoted to producing Made-in-the-USA cloth face coverings/masks at its LA facilities.
As of now, there’s been no indication from authorities that products Los Angeles Apparel has produced could have transmitted COVID-19 to buyers/end-users.
While not speaking about Los Angeles Apparel specifically, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says in general of transmission through physical products: “There is still a lot that is unknown about COVID-19 and how it spreads. Coronaviruses are thought to be spread most often by respiratory droplets. Although the virus can survive for a short period on some surfaces, it is unlikely to be spread from domestic or international mail, products or packaging. However, it may be possible that people can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.”
In June, the GWC filed a complaint with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health after Los Angeles Apparel employees reported that the company did not continuously enforce social distancing practices.
“For months, the GWC has received reports from concerned L.A. Apparel workers about employees who suddenly stopped coming to work but also described that management did not announce whether absences were COVID-19-related, nor make changes in sanitizing practices,” GWC said in a statement. “GWC member Francisco then fell ill shortly after beginning to work there in May. He received his positive COVID-19 test result on May 20, and was hospitalized for almost three weeks. The next day, May 21, a second GWC member tested positive and has not been able to return to work. Management has not reached out to either employee, and they are unclear whether paid leave will be offered to them.”
Charney said that wearing masks and social distancing has been required of workers. He said Los Angeles Apparel has undertaken an aggressive testing campaign, with all employees tested at least twice and some up to four times. He’d like to be able to resume some operations by the weekend, but needs approval from health officials and potentially other authorities as well.
NBCLA reported that Los Angeles Apparel is “looking at re-engineering the workspace, and also the meal break area, as part of the plan it is developing to present to authorities for permission to reopen.”