Media outlets in the US suggest meat giant Tyson Foods has seen almost 900 workers at one of its plants test positive for Covid-19.
The reports, which originated on Indianapolis-based news station WISH-TV before being carried by the New York Post among others, quote Cass County Health Department officials as saying it has seen just under 1,200 Covid-19 cases locally, including almost 900 employees at the Tyson Foods plant in Logansport, Indiana.
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just-food reported on 23 April that Tyson was closing its Logansport facility to carry out Covid-19 testing among its workforce.
Tyson has been forced to shutter a number of facilities as a result of an outbreak of the virus among its workforce.
Cass County told WISH-TV it had been working with Tyson on a plan to reopen the Logansport plant, a plan expedited this week by President Trump’s executive order that meat plants should stay open to ensure the continued supply of food in the country.
“So there is some worry there that might force them to flip a switch and go but we are continuing with our plan,” Cass County commissioner Ryan Browning told the news station.
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By GlobalDataThe report said the virus has infected 890 of the 2,200 people in the Logansport plant in less than a week.
It added that the Tyson plant is just one concern for Cass County as there are two other meat-processing plants within a 30-minute drive of Logansport and there are several households that have people working in multiple facilities.
In a statement sent to just-food, Tyson said: “Since this is an ever-changing situation, we are not disclosing the number of confirmed cases associated with a plant. We announced today, with local health and government officials, our plans to resume limited production at the Logansport facility next week.”
Yesterday, it was reported Tyson is set to halt operations at its beef plant in Dakota City, Nebraska, to undertake deep cleaning in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak.
