Tyson Foods Will Pause Operations At An Iowa Plant Where 555 Workers Tested Positive For Coronavirus
Tyson Foods announced that it would be temporarily suspending production at its Storm Lake, Iowa, pork processing facility. This news comes a day after officials with the Iowa Department of Public Health said that the facility had 555 cases of COVID-19 among its employees.
In a statement, Tyson said that the temporary closure was "due in part to a delay in COVID-19 testing results and team member absences related to quarantine and other factors." They added that "additional deep cleaning and sanitizing of the entire facility will be conducted before resuming operations later next week."
On Thursday, deputy director of the Iowa Department of Public Health Sarah Reisetter confirmed the plant had 555 coronavirus cases among its 2,517 employees, according to KCCI. Tyson has been sharing the results of COVID-19 testing in several of its other facilitates on its website and said in its recent statement said that it "will share verified test results, once complete data is available, with health and government officials, team members and other stakeholders."
Tyson added that once the plant reopens, workers will have "access to additional testing, daily clinical symptom screenings, nurse practitioners and enhanced education through Matrix Medical which has a mobile unit onsite."
Meat processing plants generally have been in the spotlight amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as almost 5,000 workers have tested positive for coronavirus, but as The New York Times pointed out, some believe the number to be much higher. Many plants have temporarily closed, and though several have reopened, concerns about worker safety and strain on the nation's beef and pork supply have continued. Chairman of Tyson Foods John Tyson penned a letter in late April warning that "the food supply chain is breaking" amid these closures.
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