Coronavirus cases tied to giant South Dakota pork-processing plant surpass 500 – By Evie Fordham (FOX Business) / April 15 2020
The Smithfield plant employs about 3,700 people
There have been 518 employees at a Smithfield Foods processing plant in South Dakota and 126 of their close contacts who have contracted coronavirus, state health officials said at a press conference on Wednesday.
That’s up from the 438 employees and 107 of their contacts recorded as of Tuesday evening. The plant, which employs about 3,700 people in the state’s largest city, has become a hot spot for infections. It makes up roughly half of South Dakota’s total case count and is comparable in size to the nearly 600-person outbreak on the USS Theodore Roosevelt.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem called for the temporary closure of the plant this weekend, and Smithfield Foods CEO Ken Sullivan warned of a possible meat shortage after complying.
“We have to be able to process those pigs in the plants,” Sullivan said on “Mornings with Maria” on Wednesday. “When the plants don’t operate, we don’t even have the meat to sell.”
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