570 Workers Have Coronavirus At North Carolina Poultry Plant – By Keri Brown (NPR) / May 21 2020
Meat processing plants across the country are struggling with outbreaks of the coronavirus. That includes the Tyson Foods chicken processing facility in Wilkes County, N.C.
More than 2,200 workers were tested at the Wilkesboro plant and 570 were positive for the coronavirus. Tyson said a majority of the workers who had the virus didn’t show any symptoms.
The outbreaks have happened despite Tyson temporarily closing parts of the facility for deep cleaning and worker absences related to quarantines and other factors. The company says it plans to ramp up operations again this week.
Ken Noland is the town manager of Wilkesboro. He said local officials are doing all they can in a difficult situation.
“The hard part is it’s a balancing act. We’re trying to protect the community, we’re trying to protect the Tyson team members but we are also under the mandate for the federal government to do everything we can to keep that Tyson plant operating to provide food for the nation,” said Noland.
Continue to article: https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/05/21/860545442/570-workers-have-coronavirus-at-north-carolina-poultry-plant
