COVID-19 outbreak confirmed at nine facilities including food processing plant in California

Reviewer: LAUREN EFFRON, ABC News

(New York) — According to health officials, a city in California is working on an outbreak of COVID-19 at nine industrial facilities, including one food processing plant with at least 153 positive cases reported.

According to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, the largest outbreak occurred at Farmer’s Meat Packing Factory in Vernon, California, owned by Smithfield Foods and producing Dodger Dogs and more.

Health officials found that 1,837 153 employees working at the facility tested positive for COVID-19 when tested between March and May, and 153 of those employees worked. Forty-one of them said they were reinstated.

Other Vernon facilities reported to have occurred include Cal Farms Meat Company, CLW, F. Gavina & Sons Inc. (coffee), Golden West Trading (meat and other products), Overhill Farms (frozen foods), Rose & Shore (delimeto and prepared foods), American Takao Kaya (tea, seaweed, etc.), Yamazaki from Vid France (baked) Sweets).

Farmfield owns Smithfield Foods, the largest pork supplier in the United States, employing 40,000 people nationwide.

According to the company’s website, the company offers a free COVID-19 test to all employees and lists a series of steps taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 at the facility. According to the company, these measures include increasing social distance, Plexiglas barriers, and temperature scanning.

COVID-19 has had a dramatic impact on the US food industry. Since March, dozens of food processing plants across the country have had to shut down for days or even weeks to control or stop the spread of the virus.

According to Centers for Disease Control, approximately 5,000 meat-filled workers at 115 facilities in 19 states are infected with COVID-19.

Nick Bias, Executive Director of the Center for Global Supply Chain Management at the University of Southern California, said: “There has been turmoil throughout the food supply chain, and of course the meat supply chain. Good morning America. “As the entire food supply chain, as well as the entire meat supply chain, the mess was disrupted because the processing line of this assembly line and the facility itself didn’t really have the proper methods to really protect the workers on the ground. It has begun. To see one plant after another actually exposed to COVID-19. “

Last week, Tyson Foods confirmed 570 workers were virus-positive at a poultry facility in Wilkesboro, NC and 257 employees were positive at a facility in Temperanceville, Virginia.

“ At Tyson, team members focus on ensuring they are safe and secure when they come to work first and when they come to work, ” said Tom Brower, senior vice president of health and safety at Tyson Foods. I am doing it. ” “We work closely with our local health department to use the latest information and resources to protect our team members, their families, and their communities.”

Tyson also provides symptom screening for all team members before each shift, providing mandatory protection masks for all team members, and barriers between physical workstations and break rooms.

Another Smithfield-owned plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was closed for three weeks after hundreds of employees tested positive for coronavirus.

According to the company, Smithfield’s facility, which is responsible for up to 5% of all pork production in the United States, is Smithfield’s Disease Control and Prevention Center (CDC) and US Department of Agriculture It shows full compliance with all CDC and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidance. “

Food supply disruptions are driving up prices at grocery stores. Overall, food prices increased 2.6% in April, the highest monthly increase in 50 years, according to the US Labor Department CPI report. In terms of meat, fresh beef prices rose 11.9% year-on-year and fresh chicken prices rose 7.5% in the week to May 9, according to Nielson.

“We’re seeing high prices, a shortage of some products, and this will continue,” Vias said. “This effect will probably make the virus last longer.”

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