Covid-19 outbreaks at meatpacking plants more extensive than originally thought, investigation finds - Entrepreneur Generations

Coronavirus outbreaks among meatpacking plant employees are far more extensive than previously thought, and it could get worse, according to an investigation by USA Today and the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting.

"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," Kyle Bagenstose, Sky Chadde and Matt Wynn report. "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 percent of other U.S. counties, the analysis found."

There aren't any meat shortages yet, though meatpackers are operating at 60% of capacity, because the nation still has plenty of meat in storage. Shortages could come if workers continue to sicken and plants continue to close, "but experts say there's little risk of a dwindling protein supply because, given the choice between worker safety and keeping meat on grocery shelves, the nation’s slaughterhouses will choose to produce food," Bagenstose, Chadde and Wynn report.

The meatpacking plant outbreaks shed an uncomfortable light on working conditions that can encourage the spread of infectious diseases. "The meatpacking industry already has been notorious for poor working conditions even before the coronavirus pandemic. Meat and poultry employees have among the highest illness rates of all manufacturing employees and are less likely to report injuries and illness than any other type of worker, federal watchdog reports have found," Bagenstose, Chadde and Wynn report. "And the plants have been called out numerous times for refusing to let their employees use the bathroom, even to wash their hands – one of the biggest ways to reduce the spread of the coronavirus."

Lax state and federal oversight hasn't helped. "Amplifying the danger is that, in many places, meat processing companies are largely on their own to ensure an outbreak doesn’t spread across their factory floors," Bagenstose, Chadde and Wynn report. "Factory workers, unions, and even managers say the federal government – including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration – has done little more than issue non-enforceable guidance. On its website, for example, the CDC has released safety guidelines for critical workers and businesses, which primarily promote common-sense measures of sanitization and personal distancing. State health departments have also taken a backseat role in all but a few places."

from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/2S3KR2E Covid-19 outbreaks at meatpacking plants more extensive than originally thought, investigation finds - Entrepreneur Generations

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