Tyson Foods on plan to protect workers after nearly 900 contract COVID-19
Tyson Foods President Dean Banks joins 'Fox & Friends' to discuss efforts to keep the plants safe and operational to prevent a meat shortage.
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Almost 900 workers at a Tyson Foods plant in Indiana have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to a report on Wednesday.
Dean Banks, president of Tyson Foods, said the company is working with Matrix Medical, a clinical services company, that will ensure coronavirus is not spreading in plants where it has been detected.
"That gives us the team that we need to come in and make sure that we put food on the American table," Banks said on "Fox & Friends" Friday morning.
The Tyson plant located in Logansport, Ind., has seen 890 of its 2,200 employees test positive in just under a week -- more than 40 percent of its workforce. It's one of several Tyson plants across the country that have voluntarily closed due to virus outbreaks.
Cass County officials have been working with Tyson, the largest U.S. meat supplier, in developing a plan to reopen, according to Indianapolis's WISH-TV.
TYSON FOODS PROCESSING PLANT IN KENTUCKY THE LATEST TO CLOSE FOLLOWING REPORTED CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK
Cass County Commissioner Ryan Browning said that plan has been expedited after President Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday, ensuring meat processing plants would stay open during the coronavirus pandemic.
The businesses are now declared as “critical infrastructure” under the Defense Production Act.
“So there is some worry there that might force them to flip a switch and go but we are continuing with our plan,” Browning told the station.
A Tyson Fresh Meats plant employee leaves the plant, April 23, in Logansport, Ind. The plant will temporarily close its meatpacking plant in north-central Indiana after several employees tested positive for COVID-19. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Pork processing offers workers little personal space, who typically work in a close-quarter environment, WISH-TV reported. The virus is known to spread from person-to-person within six-feet, through respiratory droplets in the air, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
EMERGENCY DECLARED IN INDIANA COUNTY AMID CORONAVIRUS CASE SURGE
Tyson released a statement regarding the safety of its employees.
“We’ve been screening worker temperatures, requiring protective face coverings and conducting additional cleaning and sanitizing. We’ve also implemented social distancing measures, such as workstation dividers and more breakroom space," it said, according to the station.
Health officials reported 1,283 coronavirus cases in the county as of Tuesday. The peak number of cases is expected to hit in the next two weeks.
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Indiana has seen more than 17,835 coronavirus cases and at least 1,114 deaths from the virus, as of early Friday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
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