FARGO, N.D. (AP) - North Dakota officials declined Wednesday to release information on any companies that have refused to cooperate with requests from health officials during the coronavirus pandemic and said information about one such company in Fargo was released in error.
The Associated Press requested the information after The Forum reported that GPK Products ignored recommendations by the state epidemiologist in May to shut down its plant for two weeks after at least 10 employees tested positive for COVID-19.
State Department of Health spokeswoman Nicole Peske said state law prohibits disclosure of information contained in disease control records. She declined to provide the documents that had been released by mistake.
GPK Products, which employs about 200 people, specializes in manufacturing plastic pipe. Company president Bradley Keller did not immediately return a phone message Wednesday seeking comment.
State officials can order businesses to shut down but have not done so.
Former Health Officer Mylynn Tufte in May ordered employees at a Grand Forks wind turbine plant to quarantine themselves after 110 employees tested positive for COVID-19. LM Wind Power officials halted production during that time.
State health officials reported Wednesday that active virus cases dropped by 64, to 1,035, and hospitalizations rose by one, to a record 58 patients.
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