(Johnston) Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds at Monday’s daily briefing says Iowa’s meatpacking plants will stay open.
The Governor is in contact with the Tyson Plant CEO and management team to make sure proactive measures are taken to protect their workforce and strategies in place to mitigate the spread of the virus. Reynolds says the state has the capacity to conduct surveillance testing and contact tracing to identify the location of these positive cases so they can separate and isolate.
Reynolds, says Tyson facilities have been complying by disinfecting and fogging their facilities several times a day, providing petitions, masks, and separating its employees during work breaks.
Iowa recorded its largest single-day increase in COVID-19 cases Sunday, due to new positive tests at meatpacking plants. The Iowa Department of Public Health reported 262 of the 389 cases of COVID-19 were found as part of testing at Iowa meat processing plants.
Restaurant closures due to the coronavirus have contributed to an estimated $5 billion in losses this year for the U.S. pork industry, and almost overnight millions of hogs stacking up on farms now have little value. After extended trade disputes and worker shortages, this was supposed to finally be the year hog farmers hit it big with prices expected to climb amid soaring domestic and foreign demand. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is promising to send cash and buy stored pork but industry leaders say it might not be enough to stem devastating losses.
