Coronavirus at Smithfield pork plant: The untold story of America's biggest outbreak
How did the biggest cluster in the US emerge in a corner of South Dakota? Infections spread like wildfire through a pork factory and questions remain about what the company did to protect staff.
On the afternoon of 25 March, Julia sat down at her laptop and logged into a phony Facebook account. She'd opened it in middle school, to surreptitiously monitor boys she had crushes on. But now, many years later, it was about to serve a much more serious purpose.
"Can you please look into Smithfield," she typed in a message to an account called Argus911, the Facebook-based tip line for the local newspaper, the Argus Leader. "They do have a positive [Covid-19] case and are planning to stay open." By "Smithfield", she was referring to the Smithfield Foods pork-processing plant located in her town of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The factory - a massive, eight-story white box perched on the banks of the Big Sioux River - is the ninth-largest hog-processing facility in the US. When running at full capacity, it processes 19,500 freshly-slaughtered hogs per day, slicing, grinding and smoking them into millions of pounds of bacon, hot dogs and spiral-cut hams. With 3,700 workers, it is also the fourth-largest employer in the city.
"Thank you for the tip," the Argus911 account responded. "What job did the worker who tested positive have?"
"We are not exactly sure," Julia wrote back.
"OK, thanks," Argus911 replied. "We'll be in touch."
The next day, at 7:35am, the Argus Leader published the story on its website: "Smithfield Foods employee tests positive for coronavirus". The reporter confirmed through a company spokeswoman that, indeed, an employee had tested positive, was in a 14-day quarantine, and that his or her work area and other common spaces had been "thoroughly sanitised". But the plant, deemed part of a "critical infrastructure industry" by the Trump administration, would remain fully operational.
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By 15 April, when Smithfield finally closed under pressure from the South Dakota governor's office, the plant had become the number one hotspot in the US, with a cluster of 644 confirmed cases among Smithfield employees and people who contracted it from them. In total, Smithfield-related infections account for 55% of the caseload in the state, which is far outpacing its far more populous Midwestern neighbour states in cases per capita. According to the New York Times, the Smithfield Foods case numbers have surpassed the USS Theodore Roosevelt naval ship and the Cook County Jail in Chicago, Illinois.
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The Smithfield pork plant, located in a Republican-led state that is one of five in the US that has not issued any kind of shelter-in-place order, has become a microcosm illustrating the socioeconomic disparities laid bare by the global pandemic. While many white-collar workers around the country are sheltering in place and working from home, food industry workers like the employees at Smithfield are deemed "essential" and must remain on the front lines.
Graphic of pigs wearing masks
"These jobs for essential workers are lower paying than the average job across America, in some cases by significant margins. So home health aides, cashiers - absolutely essential, on the front lines, have to physically report to work," said Adie Tomer, a fellow at the Brookings Institute. "They are more predominantly African American or Hispanic than the overall working populations."
The workforce at Smithfield is made up largely of immigrants and refugees from places like Myanmar, Ethiopia, Nepal, Congo and El Salvador. There are 80 different languages spoken in the plant. Estimates of the mean hourly wage range from $14-16 an hour. Those hours are long, the work is gruelling, and standing on a production line often means being less than a foot away from your co-workers on either side.
Tommy Birch
Tyler Jett
Des Moines Register
Soaring numbers of workers at the Columbus Junction, Iowa, pork-processing plant who have been sickened by COVID-19 have sparked fears not only for the employees’ health but also for the vitality of this small town and the continuity of the nation’s meat supply.
Officials from Tyson Foods have closed the plant amid one of the state's largest outbreaks of COVID-19: 186 employees have tested positive for the illness. The facility is one of the nation's major pork processing plants and the rural community's largest employer.
“We are taking on water fast,” National Pork Producers Council President Howard “A.V.” Roth said, adding that thousands of hog farms could close this year without government intervention. “Immediate action is imperative, or a lot of hog farms will go under.”
The Columbus Junction plant is one of several meatpacking facilities across the state and the nation where business has been suspended after they were hard-hit by the highly contagious coronavirus.
Essential employees:COVID-19 claims lives of 30 grocery store workers, thousands more may have it, union says
Pandemic repercussions:3 in 10 Americans have lost income due to coronavirus
In Tama County, where 108 positive COVID tests and three deaths have been reported, National Beef suspended production at Iowa Premium beef plant after an outbreak. Smithfield Foods, the world’s biggest pork processor, shut its Sioux Falls, South Dakota, plant over the weekend as the coronavirus spread among workers.
Meat processing plants from Colorado to Canada have similarly suspended production after the virus spread.
“The whole system is gummed up,” Iowa State University agricultural economist Dermot Hayes said. “It’s not just the farm and the packer. It’s all along the chain.”
Tyson Foods officials said Tuesday that the company would keep its Columbus Junction plant, which has about 1,400 employees in normal times, shuttered. The plant – said to be responsible for 2% of the country’s total slaughtering capacity – has been closed since April 6. The company is diverting livestock originally scheduled for delivery at Columbus Junction to its other plants, when possible.
Tyson was taking precautions to protect its employees from the spread before the closure. Staff was checking the temperature of workers at all locations before they entered facilities. But checking temperatures only ensures that symptomatic people do not engage with others; those who are not feverish can still spread the virus.
“Protecting our team members continues to be top priority for us,” the company said in a statement to the Des Moines Register. The plant will continue to pay employees and keep its doors closed while assessing the situation, officials said.
Gov. Kim Reynolds said Tuesday that nearly half of the day's newly confirmed cases – 86 of the 189 – were tied to the Tyson Food plant outbreak.
A Tyson Foods processing plant is seen, Tuesday, April 14, 2020, in Columbus Junction, Iowa.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2020/04/15/testing-rural-iowa-covid-19-coronavirus-tyson-food-pork-processing/5136043002/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=usatodaycomnation-topstories&fbclid=IwAR3XIrm3ooThaU_Dsv6_LoIB_PtOw_muMvNLri-51LYCAJ05SQtPkKLav6I
4 Georgia poultry workers dead from coronavirus, company says
American workers who process the nation’s meat have proven especially susceptible to the new virus, as they work shoulder-to-shoulder on production lines.
April 17, 2020, 11:22 AM CDT
By The Associated Press
SAVANNAH, Ga. — Four employees of a major poultry producer's operations in rural southwest Georgia have died after becoming infected with the coronavirus, a company spokesman said Friday.
Tyson Foods spokesman Gary Mickelson said three of the employees worked at the company's chicken processing plant in Camilla, while the fourth person worked in a supporting job outside the plant. He declined to say how many workers there have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new virus.
Coronavirus cases found in at least 17 meat processing plants across U.S.
Coronavirus infections in at least 17 meat processing plants across nine states are contributing to a spike in confirmed cases in the Midwest. Although 13 plants are already closed temporarily or operating at reduced capacity, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds says shutting down plants would hurt farmers and the national food supply. Adriana Diaz looks at the effect the pandemic has had on some of these facilities. 4H AGO
17 plants in 10 states...
The new rule will end limits on how fast slaughterhouses can kill pigs. It will also shift responsibility for removing defective meat during the slaughtering process from government inspectors to plant workers. The USDA will still inspect live pigs and the final pork products.
As line speeds increase, meatpacking workers are in ever more danger Don't expect the Trump administration to improve conditions in this already brutal industry. Matt McConnell Opinion contributor
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/09/18/line-speeds-increase-meatpacking-workers-evermore-danger-column/2256988001/
***> The estimated low level of immunity against SARS-CoV-2 indicates that efficient control measures that limit transmission risk will have to be maintained beyond the 11th May to avoid a rebound of the epidemic.
Estimating the burden of SARS-CoV-2 in France
Henrik Salje, Cécile Tran Kiem, Noémie Lefrancq, Noémie Courtejoie, Paolo Bosetti, Juliette Paireau, Alessio Andronico, Nathanaël Hoze, Jehanne Richet, Claire-Lise Dubost, et al.
Abstract
France has been heavily affected by the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic and went into lockdown on the 17th March 2020. Using models applied to hospital and death data, we estimate the impact of the lockdown and current population immunity. We find 2.6% of infected individuals are hospitalized and 0.53% die, ranging from 0.001% in those <20y 8.3="" in="" those="" to="">80y. Across all ages, men are more likely to be hospitalized, enter intensive care, and die than women. The lockdown reduced the reproductive number from 3.3 to 0.5 (84% reduction). By 11 May, when interventions are scheduled to be eased, we project 3.7 million (range: 2.3-6.7) people, 5.7% of the population, will have been infected. Population immunity appears insufficient to avoid a second wave if all control measures are released at the end of the lockdown.
This study shows the massive impact the French lockdown had on SARS-CoV-2 transmission. It estimates underlying probabilities of infection, hospitalization and death, which is essential for the interpretation of COVID-19 surveillance data. The forecasts we provide can inform planning of ICU bed occupancy and lockdown exit strategies.
***> The estimated low level of immunity against SARS-CoV-2 indicates that efficient control measures that limit transmission risk will have to be maintained beyond the 11th May to avoid a rebound of the epidemic.
Coronavirus can infect cats — dogs, not so much But scientists say it’s unclear whether felines can spread the virus to people, so pet owners need not panic yet.
We found that SARS-CoV-2 replicates poorly in dogs, pigs, chickens, and ducks, but efficiently in ferrets and cats. We found that the virus transmits in cats via respiratory droplets
SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Children
Of the 1391 children assessed and tested from January 28 through February 26, 2020, a total of 171 (12.3%) were confirmed to have SARS-CoV-2 infection. Demographic data and clinical features are summarized in Table 1. (Details of the laboratory and radiologic findings are provided in the Supplementary Appendix, available with the full text of this letter at NEJM.org.) The median age of the infected children was 6.7 years. Fever was present in 41.5% of the children at any time during the illness. Other common signs and symptoms included cough and pharyngeal erythema. A total of 27 patients (15.8%) did not have any symptoms of infection or radiologic features of pneumonia. A total of 12 patients had radiologic features of pneumonia but did not have any symptoms of infection. During the course of hospitalization, 3 patients required intensive care support and invasive mechanical ventilation; all had coexisting conditions (hydronephrosis, leukemia [for which the patient was receiving maintenance chemotherapy], and intussusception). Lymphopenia (lymphocyte count, <1 .2="" 10-month-old="" 149="" 2020="" 21="" 4="" 6="" 8="" a="" admission.="" after="" and="" as="" been="" bilateral="" br="" child="" common="" condition="" death.="" died="" discharged="" failure="" finding="" from="" general="" ground-glass="" had="" have="" hospital.="" in="" intussusception="" liter="" march="" most="" multiorgan="" of="" one="" opacity="" patients="" per="" present="" radiologic="" stable="" the="" there="" total="" wards="" was="" weeks="" were="" with="">
Two COVID-19 infected children, aged 12 and 13, die in Belgium and UK
By Alasdair Sandford with AFP, AP • last updated: 01/04/2020
A health worker in the intensive care ward observes a COVID-19 patient at a hospital in Belgium, March 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)
A 12-year-old girl in Belgium and a 13-year old boy in the UK infected with the novel coronavirus have died, authorities said.
They are believed to be the youngest victims of the disease in their respective countries.
The 12-year-old girl's death was announced during the daily news conference given by Belgium's health service, at the end of its regular update on casualty figures and hospitalisations.
“It's an emotionally difficult moment because it involves a child, and it has also upset the medical and scientific community,” said spokesman Dr Emmanuel André, visibly upset.
"We are thinking of her family and friends. It's a very rare event, but one which devastates us."
Another spokesman added that the child had had a fever for three days and had tested positive for the coronavirus. No other details were given of the girl's background.
Until now the youngest person to die from the virus in Belgium was a 30-year-old female nurse, according to Belgian media.
Just a few hours later, London's King's College Hospital announced that a 13-year-old COVID-19 patient had also died.
"Sadly, a 13-year old boy who tested positive for COVID-19 has passed away, and our thoughts and condolences are with the family at this time," a Trust spokesperson said in a statement.
"The death has been referred to the Coroner," it added.
An appeal posted on the GoFunMe crowdfunding platform by Madinah College, named him as Ismail and said that he didn't have "any pre-existing health conditions.
"Sadly he died without any family members close by due to the highly infectious nature of COVID-19," it added.
Ismail is believed the be the youngest victim of the disease in the UK.
Last week French authorities said a 16-year-old girl had died at a children's hospital in Paris. The death of the teenager, identified as Julie A. and described as otherwise healthy, has provoked strong emotions in France.
Coronavirus in France: healthy 16 year-old dies of COVID-19
Deaths from COVID-19 among people so young are exceptional. Health authorities have said previously that serious cases of the illness -- although predominant in older and more vulnerable age groups -- can occur in adults of any age.
Last weekend the US state of Illinois announced the death of an infant under one year old who had tested positive for coronavirus. The cause of death was being investigated. Medical reports on cases in China have documented the death of a 10-month-old baby and a 14-year-old boy.
A recent US study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of 2,500 patients found no cases of deaths among people aged under 19. But it did find that people of all ages were liable to become seriously ill: more than a third of those hospitalised were aged between 20 and 54.
Coronavirus in Europe: Latest numbers on COVID-19 cases and deaths
The Belgian girl's death was included among the latest national figures released on Tuesday, confirming nearly 200 more deaths since the previous update. More than 700 people in the country have died from coronavirus since the outbreak began.
Hospitals in three regions have been particularly badly affected, the authorities say -- around Brussels, in Limburg in eastern Flanders, and in Hainaut in Wallonia to the west.
With 12,775 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday, Belgium has the 10th highest number of infections among countries worldwide, according to data compiled by the US Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.
Purging the elderly and their votes
And, across the nation, according to a recent report in the Wall Street Journal, the coronavirus epidemic has affected more than 2,100 nursing homes and long-term care facilities, causing more than 2,300 fatalities. The article states that the official tally “almost certainly understates the extent of the epidemic, because not all states provide data.” As a further matter, a Time article suggests the number is at least 3,600 deaths. And on April 16, a report indicates that at least 5,670 nursing home residents have died from COVID-19.
This week state, county, and municipal officials have begun rectifying the problem of underreporting of COVID-19 deaths by adding to the tally deaths that have occurred at home or in nursing homes and are presumed to be caused by COVID-19.
Trump gop maga, “get back to work now” like leading sheep to slaughter...
corvid-19 figures US;
corvid-19 map
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President George W. Bush on Pandemic Flu in 2005
Trump disbanded NSC pandemic unit that experts had praised
By DEB RIECHMANN
March 14, 2020
WASHINGTON (AP) — Public health and national security experts shake their heads when President Donald Trump says the coronavirus “came out of nowhere” and “blindsided the world.”
They’ve been warning about the next pandemic for years and criticized the Trump administration’s decision in 2018 to dismantle a National Security Council directorate at the White House charged with preparing for when, not if, another pandemic would hit the nation.
CORONAVIRUS APR. 8, 2020
U.S. Intelligence Warned Trump of Coronavirus Threat as Early as November: Report
By Matt Stieb
We’ve removed our paywall from essential coronavirus news stories. Become a subscriber to support our journalists. Subscribe now.
One of the many, mutually exclusive excuses the Trump administration has provided for its profound delay in responding to the coronavirus is that they were fooled by reports of the outbreak coming out of China. “I will be very candid with you,” Mike Pence explained on CNN last week, “and say that in mid-January the CDC was still assessing that the risk of the coronavirus to the American people was low. … The reality is that we could’ve been better off if China had been more forthcoming.”
Pence, too, could have been more forthcoming about the information the administration was privy to, according to a new report from ABC News. According to two officials familiar with a report from the military’s National Center for Medical Intelligence, the White House was aware of a contagion which is now known to be COVID-19 as early as November. According to ABC News, the report, made up of data intercepts and satellite imagery, determined that the coronavirus was a potential threat to U.S. troops in the region. “Analysts concluded it could be a cataclysmic event,” a source told ABC News. “It was then briefed multiple times to the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon’s Joint Staff and the White House.”
Though Defense Secretary Mark Esper told ABC News on Sunday that the National Security Council was not briefed about the matter in December, the ABC News report says that the administration was aware of its contents as early as Thanksgiving:
The NCMI report was made available widely to people authorized to access intelligence community alerts. Following the report’s release, other intelligence community bulletins began circulating through confidential channels across the government around Thanksgiving, the sources said. Those analyses said China’s leadership knew the epidemic was out of control even as it kept such crucial information from foreign governments and public health agencies.
“The timeline of the intel side of this may be further back than we’re discussing,” the source said of preliminary reports from Wuhan. “But this was definitely being briefed beginning at the end of November as something the military needed to take a posture on.”
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Atkinson’s removal is part of a larger shakeup of the intelligence community under Trump, who has long been skeptical of intelligence officials and information. Atkinson is at least the seventh intelligence official to be fired, ousted or moved aside since last summer.
Below is a timeline of Trump’s commentary downplaying the threat.
Jan. 22: On whether he was worried about a pandemic: “No, we’re not at all. And we have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China.”
Jan. 24: “It will all work out well.”
Trump reportedly dismissed January coronavirus warnings from Health Secretary Alex Azar as 'alarmist'
Tom Porter
Trump according to the Post was warned in a January intelligence briefing about the threat posed by the virus as well as by his health secretary, but in public statements for weeks continued to downplay the likely impact of the disease.
A Navy captain tries to save his sailors, and gets fired in the process
Navy secretary, in a transparent bid to appease President Trump, moves precipitously to relieve aircraft carrier captain of his command: Our view The Editorial Board USA TODAY
COVID-19
4/18/2020, 12:38:37 PM
Total Deaths 157,400
23,227 deaths Italy
20,043 deaths Spain
18,681 deaths France
15,464 deaths United Kingdom
13,202 deaths New York City New York US
''Please, please, we can’t win anymore''
