Nearly 900 workers of Tyson Food Plants located in Logansport, Indiana test positive for COVID-19, according to a recently published article.


Workers Test Positive For COVID-19

Tyson Food meat-processing plant in Logansport, Indiana, is just one of its production sites across the country that voluntarily halted operations in an attempt to control the spread of the virus. Roughly 40 percent of its workers in Indiana tested positive for the virus.

Serenity Alter, Cass County Health Department's administrator, confirmed that 890 employees of the plant are positive for the virus, and hundreds of other employees are still to be screened and monitored for possible infection. 

Tyson Food is the country's largest meat supplier. In the Indiana plant alone, they have around 2,200 employees. Meanwhile, to sustain the food chain in the country amid the global pandemic, the county officials have been working with the Tyson Food on how to open its plant strategically.

Hli Yang, a spokeswoman for the company, first declined to give the number of infected persons. She told a news outlet, "Since this is an ever-changing situation, we are not disclosing the number of confirmed cases associated with a plant."


Plans to Reopen the Tyson Food Plant in Indiana

Yang said that they would resume their operation in Logansport, Indiana, next week with limited production. The decision was made after the plant tour was done with local health and government officials, a union representative, and medical professionals.  

Tyson Foods released a joint statement with the city, county health department, and local health officials that says, "While the facility was idled, we added more workstation barriers, installed more hand sanitizer dispensers, and did additional deep cleaning and sanitation. We're also now screening employees for additional symptoms and designating monitors to help enforce social distancing while following the CDC and OSHA's guidance for Meat and Poultry Processing Workers and Employers."  

Yang also added: "We've worked closely with Cass County officials, Cass County health department officials, the mayor of Logansport and the local union chapter on a reopening plan that we all believe will be safe for team members. During the plant tour, we showed them the additional protective measures implemented, including more work station barriers, additional hand sanitizer dispensers, barriers in common areas to promote social distancing, and more."

Moreover, the chairman of Tyson Foods already warned that if they stop their operation, the U.S. food supply chain is breaking. He said that millions of pounds of meat would disappear from the supply chain if meat plants are closed even in a short time.


Virus Transmission from Meat to Humans

Meat consumers were alarmed following the report that almost 40 percent of the largest meat-processing in the country tested positive for the virus. They are afraid to catch the virus from the meat. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Departement of Agriculture, and the World Health Organization said that food is not known to be a route of virus transmission. 

Benjamin Chapman, a professor and food safety specialist at North Carolina State University, also said: "We don't have any evidence that food or food packaging is a source for getting sick."

However, he also stressed out that there are still lots of things that experts do not know about the behavior of the new virus, most especially when it comes to its mode of transmission. He also added: "Our understanding about the spread of the disease, and the risk food poses could change as more information becomes available."


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