Frito-Lay worker at Topeka plant tests positive for COVID-19

A worker at a Frito-Lay plant in Topeka has tested positive for the coronavirus as more Kansas businesses reopened in advance of Memorial Day.

The company said in a statement Friday that it has taken steps to identify and notify employees who had direct contact with the infected worker and asked them to quarantine themselves. Frito-Lay’s Topeka facility employs about 1,000 people, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported .

“The employee did not come in contact with product and there is no food safety risk,” the company added. “As a precautionary measure, we have conducted a deep cleaning of the contacted areas and equipment based on CDC guidelines and using EPA-approved registered products for COVID-19.”

According to the company, it has also implemented symptom screenings and temperature checks and provided personal protective equipment for employees at the Topeka facility.

Museums, along with theaters, bowling alleys and other indoor leisure places, were included in the state’s latest reopening phase, which took effect Friday.

As operations resume at the Kansas Cosmosphere space and science center in Hutchinson, all staff will be wearing masks and visitors are encouraged to as well, KDFI reported . Plexiglas shields have been installed at all points of sale. There are markers on the floor at 6-foot intervals to allow visitors to maintain social distancing and hand sanitizing stations have been set up across the facility.

The number of cases in the state rose by 419 cases to 8,958 on Friday, the last day the data was released. State health officials also reported 185 deaths.