May 29, 2020

Tyson Foods will close Iowa swine plant due to COVID-19

The company will close its swine plant in Storm Lake, Iowa after 555 workers, or 22% of the facility's workforce tested positive for COVID-19, Reuters reported.

Tyson Foods, Smithfield Foods (owned by China's WH Group) and JBS USA have closed 20 slaughterhouses temporarily as workers became affected by the virus. Measures such as social distancing and absent workers have slowed production.

In a statement, Tyson Foods said swine slaughtering operations at the Iowa plant will close in two days. It aims to reopen next week after conducting sanitation and deep cleaning of the plant.

The company said it had tests for COVID-19 conducted on its workers and introduced safety measures to protect them, such as mandatory mask wearing.

The Tyson Foods Storm Lake, Iowa plant has a 17,250 swine daily slaughtering capacity or 3.5% of US production before the COVID-19 pandemic.

-      Reuters