Stopping virus a huge challenge at crowded US meat plants

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — 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. Because of that, the risk of catching the virus will likely remain even as companies take steps to increase worker protections.

“It’s not that people aren’t trying. It’s just that it is very difficult to control this illness,” said Dennis Burson, an animal science professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The list of companies dealing with infected workers has been growing every day at plants across the country. Among the latest was the closure Wednesday of Tyson Foods’ huge pork-processing plant in Waterloo, Iowa, after numerous workers tested positive. That follows closures of a Smithfield Foods pork plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; a JBS beef plant in Greeley, Colorado; and many others. Some, including the Tyson pork plant in Perry, Iowa, have reopened after deep cleanings.

The closures shouldn’t cause any immediate meat shortages or big price jumps at supermarkets, but as Purdue University economist Jason Lusk noted, “It’s a very fluid and volatile situation to keep an eye out for in the days to come.”

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, whose state leads the nation in pork production, acknowledged the likelihood of “clusters of positive cases” at meat-processing plants but said the operations must remain open.

“Without them, people’s lives and our food supply will be impacted,” Reynolds said.

At least 10 worker deaths linked to the virus have been reported at meat-processing plants nationwide, according to the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents roughly 80 percent of beef and pork workers and 33 percent of poultry workers nationwide.

In an attempt to protect workers, companies have started checking employee temperatures, staggering breaks and altering start times. Owners said they have also done more to clean plants, added more break space, slowed production lines so workers can spread out and added plastic shields between workstations.

“We are looking for countless ways of ensuring we have good, healthy social distancing in our plants. It’s not impossible despite the number of people in our plants,” said Hector Gonzalez, Tyson’s senior vice president of human resources.

Major companies, including Smithfield, Tyson, Cargill and JBS, said they have relaxed their attendance and sick leave policies to encourage sick workers to stay home and allow them to be paid.

Still, workplace safety expert Celeste Monforton said it’s difficult to ensure people working so closely together won’t spread the virus.

“The scary thing is you know if it could happen in one plant, the potential is there for a lot of other plants,” said Monforton, a lecturer in public health at Texas State University. “Unless you’re super vigilant, this is a recipe for disaster.”

Even companies with the best intention may struggle because plant layouts make 6-foot distancing difficult, said Jim Roth, director of the Center for Food Security and Public Health at Iowa State University. Precautions such as face masks and plastic shields can help but likely won’t eliminate the risk, he said. Some plants can spread workers out by slowing down operations, but that’s not possible everywhere and would reduce a plant’s capacity.

“They were constructed to have people stand next to each other and work, and that’s very difficult to change,” Roth said.

Edgar Fields, president of the Southeast Council of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which represents thousands of poultry workers, said it’s hard to know if the precautions will protect workers.

“We say 6 feet … but what is enough?” Fields asked. “What else is it that we can ask them to do to try to protect their employees when they walk in the door and when they walk out. I don’t know. All of this is new.”

Alejandra Wehunt, 22, of Gainesville, Georgia, said she stopped going to work at a poultry processing plant after a coworker tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

“I have a young daughter. I live with my grandmother. I have seizures and heart problems. I can’t catch anything,” said Wehunt. “If one person got it, probably many others have it too.”

Wehunt said the plant manager at the Gold Creek Foods plant had told workers that they had to show up to work or risked losing their jobs, despite the pandemic.

“Why are we losing our jobs because we don’t want to put our health in jeopardy,” she said.

A Gold Creek Foods spokesman didn’t respond to phone calls seeking comment.

Joshua Specht, a University of Notre Dame history professor who has studied the meat industry, said it relies on workers at the margins of society — including recent immigrants — who don’t have a safety net and therefore feel pressure to continue working even if they are ill.

“With workers in close proximity, working long hours, and feeling pressure to continue even when sick, the meat industry is at particular risk for pandemic-related disruptions,” Specht said.

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Associated Press writers Stephen Groves in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Amy Forliti in Minneapolis; David Pitt in Des Moines, Iowa; and Adriana Gomez Licon in Miami contributed to this report.