The Tyson meat packing plant in Columbus Junction, where a major outbreak of COVID-19 turned Louisa County into one of the biggest per-capita hot spots in the country, is restarting some of its operations tomorrow.
The plant closed on April 6 after over two dozen of its employees tested positive for the coronavirus. After the state sent hundreds of testing kits to the Southeast Iowa town to conduct surveillance tests of the employees, 166 workers were confirmed to have contracted the virus. Two have since died.
Earlier tonight, multiple sources confirmed to Starting Line that workers were being called back into the plant for work tomorrow. One provided a screenshot of a text message that read, “Team Members of the Kill Floor & Rendo are working tomorrow 4/21/20 at regular start time except those who are sick or tested positive.”
The sources said the “hot room” of the plant, which they say has between 200 and 250 workers, would be restarting.
The company then confirmed to press this evening that the Columbus Junction plant would resume limited production tomorrow morning and then slowly ramp up capacity.
It has now been two weeks since the plant shuttered, and Tyson has said they have taken significant steps to clean their facilities and provide for social distancing between employees in places like the break room. Multiple workers told Starting Line last week that earlier steps at several meat packing plants in Iowa did not line up with various companies’ statements.
“In an effort to promote social distancing, many company facilities have installed workstation dividers and are providing more breakroom space,” a Tyson press release stated this evening.
As the outbreaks have spread throughout Midwestern meat packing facilities, states have provided the kind of widespread testing at targeted locations that many argue are necessary to detect who all are infected and get them isolated. Tyson now has the benefit of knowing who had the virus in previous weeks when testing was conducted, allowing them to keep those employees from reentering the workplace. However, it’s not clear how many of the workers who tested negative may have spent the past week around family members or others living in their homes and communities who might have had the virus and transmitted it further.
Louisa County, a county of just over 11,000 residents, currently has 215 cases. That’s the equivalent of over 1,900 cases per 100,000 population. Only a small handful of places in the entire country have higher per capita rates than that. Louisa County’s rate has now surpassed New York City’s and New Orleans’. Surrounding Iowa counties like Muscatine, where many plant workers live, has also seen soaring case numbers.
by Pat Rynard
Posted 4/20/20
Iowa Starting Line is an independently-owned progressive news outlet devoted to providing unique, insightful coverage on Iowa news and politics. We need reader support to continue operating — please donate here. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for more coverage.