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TOPLINESmithfield Foods’ meat processing plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, has become the largest coronavirus hotbed in the United States with about 735 associate cases, while Gov. Kristi Noem has yet to issue a stay-at-home order.
President Donald Trump and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem in December.
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
KEY FACTS
Nearly 600 employees and 135 close contacts of now-closed the pork processing plant have tested positive for coronavirus, according to Argus Leader, making it the largest coronavirus hotspot in the United States, surpassing the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt and Cook County Jail in Chicago.
Smithfield Foods employee Augustin Rodriguez, 64, became the first coronavirus fatality from the plant’s outbreak when he died Tuesday morning, according to the Argus Leader, which reported that Rodriguez continued working at the plant after he began to have symptoms of COVID-19; he was hospitalized on April 4.
Smithfield Foods, owned by Hong Kong-based WH Group, is the largest pork processor in the world—and in addition to its Sioux Fall plant, Smithfield facilities in Cudahy, Wisconsin, Martin City, Missouri, and Arnold, Pennsylvania, have closed after employees at these locations tested positive for coronavirus.
Noem has so far been unwilling to issue a stay-at-home order, instead saying, “There are several states that are not testing people like we are,” in a press conference on Thursday.
Thousands of complaints have been filed to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration—obtained by the Washington Post through FOIA—by those working amid the pandemic: citing the lack of sanitation and CDC recommended practices to avoid coronavirus as OSHA has not mandated safety measures for coronavirus essential workers.
One such OSHA complaint was filed by a worker of an unnamed Georgia meat processing plant alleging that workers were sandwiched shoulder-to-shoulder; three workers of this plant have died from COVID-19.
CRITICAL QUOTE
“I lost him because of that horrible place,” said Angelita Rodriguez to the Argus Leader after losing her husband Augustin Rodriguez, a former Smithfield employee, to COVID-19 on Tuesday. “Those horrible people and their supervisors, they’re sitting in their homes, and they’re happy with their families.”
BIG NUMBER
54,000. That’s the number worldwide Smithfield Foods employees, who process meat for brands like Nathan’s Famous, Cracker Barrel, Farmland, Armour, Kreschmar, John Morell, Healthy Ones and many more.
KEY BACKGROUND
The FDA said last month there is “no evidence of food or food packaging being associated with the transmission of COVID-19,” which would suggest consumers of Smithfield meat should be in the clear. However, residents of South Dakota may have cause for concern: While states with stay-at-home orders begin to discuss economic reopening and flattening of the new coronavirus case curve, South Dakota’s Department of Health says, “The climb is just starting,” with a case peak predicted to occur from May to mid-June, according to Brookings Register.
TANGENT
Consumers may see a lack of their favorite bacon or spiral ham as a result of Smithfield closures. This is not to be confused with a meat shortage The U.S. actually has plenty of meat with hundreds of millions of pounds in cold storage, the challenge is how it gets from carcass to bacon with facilities like processing operations down.
FURTHER READING
South Dakota Refused To Shut Down, Now Faces One Of The Largest Coronavirus Outbreaks In The Country (Forbes)
Yes, The U.S. Could Face Minor, Local Food Shortages, But They Will Be Temporary (Forbes)
‘I lost him because of that horrible place’: Smithfield worker dies from COVID-19 (Argus Leader)
Smithfield Foods closes two more plants (The Hill)
Coronavirus in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count (New York Times)
Thousands of OSHA complaints filed against companies for virus workplace safety concerns, records show (Washington Post)
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