Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
The Way Meat Plants Are Set Up Is Fundamentally At Odds With Keeping Workers Safe During This Pandemic
The Associated Press: Stopping Virus A Huge Challenge At Crowded US Meat Plants
Daily reports of giant meat-processing plants closing because workers tested positive for the coronavirus have called into question whether slaughterhouses can remain virus-free. According to experts, the answer may be no. Given that the plants employ thousands of people who often work side by side carving meat, social distancing is all but impossible. (Funk, 4/23)
The Associated Press: Tyson Foods Idles Largest Pork Plant As Virus Slams Industry
Tyson Foods suspended operations Wednesday at an Iowa plant that is critical to the nation’s pork supply but was blamed for fueling a massive coronavirus outbreak in the region. The Arkansas-based company said the closure of the plant in Waterloo would deny a vital market to hog farmers and further disrupt U.S. meat supply. Tyson had kept the facility, its largest pork plant, open in recent days over the objections of alarmed local officials. (Foley, 4/23)
CNN: Tyson Will Close Its Biggest Pork Plant After Workers Call Out Sick With Coronavirus
Tyson Foods is closing its largest pork plant as a growing number of workers become ill from coronavirus infections. The plant, located in Waterloo, Iowa, had already slowed production because many of its 2,800 workers had been calling out sick. The Black Hawk County health department linked the Tyson plant to 182 of the county's 374 Covid-19 cases. Last week, Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart called for the Tyson facility to be shut down. (Alcorn, 4/22)
The New York Times: Tight-Knit Company Towns Reel As Coronavirus Rolls Through
As soon as she heard about a cluster of coronavirus cases at the Tyson pork processing plant on the edge of Columbus Junction, Iowa, Cindy Johnston felt a ripple effect through her small community along the Iowa River. Ms. Johnston, who manages a Dairy Sweet burgers and ice cream shack, sent home four teenage employees because their parents work at the Tyson plant. Parents of other teenage workers were too afraid of potential infection to let their children report to work at Dairy Sweet. Then, she learned of the death of an employee at the Tyson plant; it was the father of a classmate of her son. (Searcy, 4/22)
Kaiser Health News: Biden Says OSHA Isn’t Doing Enough To Protect Workers’ From COVID-19
During an April 15 virtual town hall meeting with front-line workers, former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democrats’ presumptive nominee for the White House, was asked by a meat processing worker what he would do to protect workers like her from COVID-19. “We lost a co-worker at my plant because there is no regulation to protect meat chain employees,” said Safaa Elzakzoky, who is also a member of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. “We can’t work safely and get people the meat that they need to eat. So what would you do to protect a worker like my friend who just died?” (Knight, 4/23)
