Coronavirus at meatpacking plants worse than first thought, USA TODAY investigation finds

Coronavirus closed Smithfield and JBS meatpacking plants. Many more are at risk. Operators may have to choose between worker health or meat in stores.

Tyson Foods installed plastic barriers between worker stations at its meat and poultry plants to protect against transmission of the coronavirus.

Arash of coronavirus outbreaks at dozens of meatpacking plants across the nation is far more extensive than previously thought, according to an exclusive review of cases by USA TODAY and the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting. 

And it could get worse. More than 150 of America’s largest meat processing plants operate in counties where the rate of coronavirus infection is already among the nation’s highest, based on the media outlets’ analysis of slaughterhouse locations and county-level COVID-19 infection rates.

These facilities represent more than 1 in 3 of the nation’s biggest beef, pork and poultry processing plants. Rates of infection around these plants are higher than those of 75% of other U.S. counties, the analysis found. 

And while experts say the industry has thus far maintained sufficient production despite infections in at least 2,200 workers at 48 plants, there are fears that the number of cases could continue to rise and that meatpacking plants will become the next disaster zones.

"Initially our concern was long-term care facilities," said Gary Anthone, Nebraska's chief medical officer, in a Facebook Live video Sunday. “If there's one thing that might keep me up at night, it's the meat processing plants and the manufacturing plants."

Close quarters in meat packing plants

Workers can stand too close together in certain areas of a meat packing facilities, enabling the spread of coronavirus. This is a look inside a chicken processing plant, but the process is similar no matter what type of meat is being processed.

SOURCE USA TODAY research; Al Mahamud Ibne Jamal, student at Chittagong Veterinary & Animal Sciences University

That’s more than in any previous month in the waiver program’s history. Several worker protection agencies have found that increasing line speeds causes more injuries.

And it could lead to more infections, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union said in a statement: “These waivers guarantee that workers are more crowded along a meatpacking line and more workers are put at risk of either catching or spreading the virus.” 

Most of the plants that received waivers are owned by Tyson Foods and Wayne Farms, according to a department record. One of them – a Wayne Farms facility in Albertville, Alabama – disclosed this week that 75 of its workers tested positive and one died. The plant will slow production to improve safety, it told AL.com.

“This is so dangerous for workers and the public," Debbie Berkowitz, who spent six years as chief of staff and senior policy adviser at OSHA and is now director of the National Employment Law Project’s worker health and safety program. 

Berkowitz said she has never seen anything like the recent flurry of approvals. "They did this behind closed doors with no input by the public and with no consideration to the impact on food or workers' safety.”

A spokesperson with the Food Safety and Inspection Service, the USDA agency that grants the waivers, said the agency has stopped accepting additional waiver requests. 

Companies say they are taking steps to keep workers safe from outbreaks as they continue to feed the nation. 

After the coronavirus sickened nearly 200 workers and killed two at a Tyson plant in Iowa, the company responded by making sweeping safety improvements at all its facilities, said Worth Sparkman, a company spokesperson. 

Tyson installed plastic barriers between workers on the lines, allowed more time between shifts and removed chairs in break rooms to keep workers at a safe distance, Sparkman said. 

“At all locations we’re working to educate our team members and reinforce the importance of social distancing, wearing protective facial coverings and frequent hand washing outside of work as well,” he said. “This is especially important in locations where there is community spread occurring.”

Tyson reopened that Iowa plant on Tuesday after having closed it April 6 to contain the outbreak. 

But meat processing workers elsewhere remain fearful for their safety. 

A 50 year old employee named John at Smithfield’s Sioux Falls plant told USA TODAY that there’s no way to stay 6 feet from co-workers on the production line, in the cafeteria or in the locker room. The employee asked to use only his first name for fear that speaking out would cost him his job.