April 15, 2020

National Beef plant adds safety measures after multiple COVID-19 cases

The National Beef case-ready packing plant took extra precautions and added safety measures after multiple employees have tested positive for COVID-19.

Company spokesman Keith Welty said the first employee tested positive April 3 and others have tested positive since, but he declined to divulge specific information.

All 400 employees have been provided masks and are screened daily for elevated temperatures before starting a work shift, he said.

Social distancing is taking place inside the plant, with employees taking extended breaks at different times to limit the number of gatherings in small areas.

To ensure that employees are forthright about their health, Welty said, the company is continuing to provide pay and benefits to anyone unable to work due to a COVID-19 diagnosis.

"It's a challenging time" for the food industry, he said, adding that the coronavirus does not pose a safety risk to the meat.

National Beef moved up the scheduled plant cleaning last week after an employee tested positive at its beef processing facility in Tama, Iowa, temporarily suspending its operations.

Several large meat processing plants across the country have closed temporarily due to the virus, raising concerns that there could soon be shortages of beef, pork and poultry in supermarkets.

The meat supply chain is especially vulnerable since processing is increasingly done at massive plants that butcher tens of thousands of animals daily, so the closure of even a few big ones can quickly be felt by customers. For instance, a Smithfield Foods plant that was forced to close in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, after nearly 300 of the plant's 3,700 workers tested positive for the virus produces roughly 5% of the US pork supply each day.

In addition, conditions at plants can be ripe for exploitation by the virus: Workers stand shoulder-to-shoulder on the line and crowd into locker rooms to change their clothes before and after shifts.