July 8, 2020

17,000 COVID-19 casesin US meat and poultry processing until end-May

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report said in April and May this year, COVID-19 has infected more than 17,000 workers in the United States meat and poultry industry, with 91 deaths, Reuters reported.

The report comes from health departments in 23 states until May 31, 2020 for all COVID-19 affected meat and poultry plants. The data confirmed 16,233 COVID-19 cases and 86 related deaths.

Combined with a prior CDC assessment of meat plant workers until April 27, this brings the total COVID-19 infected cases to 17,358 and 91 deaths until end-May.

87% of infected workers were among racial and ethnic minorities. Workers have been forced to work closely, under long hours and indoors especially in rural parts of the US.

CDC said 12% of reported cases were asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic, but not all plants conducted COVID-19 tests.

The CDC report said most meat plants have introduced strict safety measures such as screening workers for COVID-19 symptoms, supplying workers with hand sanisiters and masks as well as disinfecting tools. 

CDC researchers said the lessons gained from COVID-19 investigations in meat and poultry processing plants could be relevant in other food and agriculture workplaces.

-      Reuters