May 7, 2020

Seaboard Foods confirms 116 COVID-19 cases at running pork plant

While the meat sector attempts to keep doors open and settle fears of supply insufficiency, at least 116 employees at Seaboard Foods in Oklahoma have tested positive for the new coronavirus, reported FOX Business.

Any employee who exhibits symptoms or a fever will be asked to go home, a company spokesperson said.

"Our message to employees continues to be if you don't feel well please stay home, contact your healthcare provider and get tested," the spokesperson said. "We believe this is the best way to protect our workers and our community."

Seaboard Foods, a pork processing plant in Guymon, Oklahoma, has created a temporary COVID-19 Leave Policy and Support Plan, including short-term disability pay for employees in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) coronavirus risk category.

The CDC inspected a then-closed Smithfield Foods pork processing plant in South Dakota in April after it turned into a coronavirus hot spot. Oklahoma health officials have not requested that CDC visit the state, stated a CDC spokesperson.

CDC investigators are on the ground this week looking into outbreaks in nearby Moore and Potter Counties in Texas.

Costco, Kroger and other grocery chains are rationing the amount of meat customers can buy at one time as processing at US meat plants has slowed down or stopped completely because of the coronavirus.