Which meat processing plants in NC have coronavirus outbreaks? Here’s what we know.
Meat and poultry processing plants have become hubs for coronavirus outbreaks in North Carolina, but the state does not provide a comprehensive list of affected plants and the number of cases in their facilities.
There are 23 outbreaks at processing plants in the state affecting at least 1,340 employees, according to data the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services provided Tuesday to The News & Observer. An outbreak is described as two or more cases.
The plants are in Bertie, Bladen, Burke, Chatham, Duplin, Lee, Lenoir, Richmond, Robeson, Sampson, Surry, Union, Wilkes and Wilson counties.
Several media outlets and worker advocacy groups have asked officials when the state will provide that information. The state now provides information on nursing homes, long-term care facilities and prisons.
But in a press briefing last week, NCDHHS Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen said to “stay tuned for more information.”
On April 21, NCDHHS said in a press release there were five plants in five counties with reported outbreaks.
None of the state’s 3,200 food manufacturing facilities have closed permanently, and so far, no animals have been euthanized, state Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler said in an interview with The News & Observer May 5.
Joe Reardon, Assistant Agriculture Commissioner, told The News & Observer he estimates that the state’s processing-plant production has slowed by roughly 35% to 45% because of the pandemic.
The News & Observer has confirmed outbreaks at the following North Carolina meat and poultry processing plants through other media outlets and the companies. This list will be updated.
NC meat processing plants with COVID-19 outbreaks
▪ Bertie County: Perdue Farms in Lewiston-Woodville. Number of cases is unknown.
▪ Bladen County: Smithfield Foods in Tar Heel has 72 cases, the Robeson County Health Department told The News & Observer.
▪ Burke County: Case Farms in Morganton. Number of cases is unknown.
▪ Chatham County: Mountaire Farms in Siler City. There are 74 cases among workers and their families after mass testing of 356 people, WRAL reports. The Siler City ZIP code of 27344 has 302 coronavirus cases, the most per ZIP code in the state, according to NCDHHS data. An online petition from local organizations, including the Poor People’s Campaign, requesting for protections for employees and temporary workers alike reached over 3,000 signatures.
▪Duplin County: Butterball in Mount Olive. WITN, the NBC affiliate in eastern North Carolina, reported there are more than 50 employee cases in the plant. A Butterball spokesperson told The N&O in an email that a worker there died, but the company has “not been informed of the specific cause.”
▪Lee County: Pilgrim’s Pride in Sanford. Piedmont Health CEO Brian Toomey told The N&O that their testing rates of Sanford workers have been high. They have tested over 150 Pilgrim’s Pride and Mountaire Farms workers with a 60% rate of positive cases, but the total number of cases is unknown.
▪ Lenoir County: Sanderson Farms in Kinston. Number of cases is unknown.
▪ Richmond County: Perdue Farms in Rockingham. Number of cases is unknown.
▪ Robeson County: The Robeson County Health Department confirmed the following cases as of May 5 to The News & Observer: 59 cases at Mountaire Farms in Lumber Bridge; five cases at Sanderson Farms in St. Pauls; and six cases at Prestage Farms St. Pauls. Non-hospitalized cases are presumed recovered with 49 in Mountaire Farms, two in Sanderson Farms and two in Prestage Farms.
▪ Sampson County: Smithfield Foods in Clinton. Number of cases is unknown.
▪ Surry County: The state has reported an outbreak in this county, but the name of the plant has not been identified. But the Wayne Farms poultry plant in Mt. Airy is in the county.
▪ Union County: The state has reported an outbreak in the county, but the name of the plant has not been identified. A Tyson Foods poultry is located in the town of Monroe in the county.
▪ Wilkes County: Tyson Foods in Wilkesboro. Production was suspended for two days amid reports of an outbreak for deep cleaning and sanitizing. Wilkes County officials say the cases reported among plant workers account for the majority of the county’s 194 COVID-19 cases.
▪ Wilson County: Smithfield Foods in Wilson. Number of cases is unknown.
Tracking cases by 2-1-1 calls
Washington University in St. Louis has been tracking the number of calls to 211, North Carolina’s coronavirus information line, for housing, food and healthcare needs in counties with processing plants with outbreaks. The N&O requested the university’s data for North Carolina counties.
Matthew W. Kreuter, a public health professor at the university, said in an email that 211 requests in counties without meat-packing or processing plants dropped by nearly half.
But they declined by about a third in North Carolina counties with plant outbreaks. The figures suggest the severity and quantity of cases in those counties is higher than counties without these plants, Kreuter said.
“In the last three weeks, requests in meat packing counties have actually increased, while requests in all other counties dropped by nearly a quarter (23%),” he said.
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