Thousands of meatpacking workers have been infected with the coronavirus. Some of their employers now are rolling out large-scale testing, and their experience may offer lessons for other businesses.
the public health director for Black Hawk County, Iowa, where the plant is located, recalls telling plant managers:"There is a huge volume [of cases]. There is an outbreak!"
almost 20 of its facilities, from Maine to Virginia and Texas."We're somewhere around 30,000 people, team members, that have been tested," says Brooks."That's about a quarter of our workforce."Meatpacking plants have been among the country's worst coronavirus hot spots, with thousands of workers infected. Dozens have died.
But a few days later, while he was waiting for those test results, he lost his sense of smell and started getting constant headaches. He wasn't surprised to hear that he's tested positive, along with close to 900 others. Fortunately, his was a mild case.This has been the story at one plant after another. Most of the people who test positive seem healthy at the time, with no symptoms of COVID-19.
Getting those virus-carrying workers away from their colleagues, and isolated at home, seems to have paid off with a big reduction in coronavirus cases— although Tyson executives and public health officials also give credit to changes inside the plants. Those measures include face shields, more social distancing in break rooms and lockers, and plastic dividers to separate workers on the production line.
A one-time test is only good for the short term, because workers can pick up the virus the very next day.
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