Over the past few months since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, the United States of America had transformed into the world's epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the increasing concerns during the pandemic is the inclining number of infections in meat processing plants.

Most Are Latino

Most of the workers in meat processing plants are Latinos. They are left with a decision to earn to provide the needs of their families or protecting them.

According to a study conducted by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a disproportionate count of meatpackers in the U.S. are immigrants and people of color, where 44 percent are Latinos, and 25 percent are African-Americans. Additionally, Latinos are the least insured community in the United States.

COVID-19 Infections

According to the CDC, 18 percent of workers in South Dakota and Iowa had contracted SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Workers from Nebraska and Pennsylvania account for one-fourth of the total positive cases of the coronavirus in the country.

Many government offices had announced numbers about COVID-19 infections among workers because of the future reopening of Smithfield Foods operation in the U.S., says a recent article.

Smithfield Foods

The plant of Smithfield Foods in South Dakota has been linked to 853 coronavirus infections among its 3,100 workers.

Despite sharing to the public the company's COVID-19 preventive measures in its facilities, its workers and their families had participated in rallies demanding the improvement of working conditions and asking for protective equipment against the novel coronavirus.

Widespread Community Transmission

According to the CDC, the widespread transmission among the community is some situations make it difficult to determine the source of infection and exposure.

Reopening of Plants

The U.S. government announced that it would be allowing the reopening of the plants in the country.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus, under the leadership of Representative Joaquin Castro, requested the government to investigate the conditions of meat plants before allowing the industry to reopen.

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A Cry for Protective Equipment for Workers

Based on the letter the Caucus members addressed to the administration, there are a lot of companies in the meatpacking sector that are not implementing safety measures to protect their workers from the coronavirus pandemic. Also, they had said in the letter that there are some companies in the industry that had provided protective equipment to their workers. However, some that did not implement precautionary measures against COVID-19 had led to multiple infections and deaths among workers. Additionally, this carelessness had led to the death of two inspectors under the Department of Agriculture.

LULAC, a Latino civil rights group, had arranged rallies such as the 'Meatless May' campaign in Iowa, where businesses are being boycotted for not providing necessary protective equipment for their workers.