Smithfield Foods may have inadvertently become a coronavirus super spreader after nearly 900 cases were documented at its Sioux Falls, South Dakota packing plant. The company has claimed it is working to increase worker safety but has been adamant in voicing the potential consequences to the meat supply if the plant is kept closed.
Smithfield's Sioux Falls plant was closed last week due to a string of coronavirus infections amongst its staff. At the time, there were 239 confirmed cases among the plant's personnel. At the time of writing, however, that number is now just short of 900. The closure of the plant came after South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem urged Smithfield to suspend operations at the plant to allow workers time to quarantine themselves and the company time to sanitize the plant.
The plant was responsible for of South Dakota's 1,700 cases. At least an additional 100 or so of those infections were the result of people coming into contact with infected employees.
Conditions inside of the plant were of concern to workers, who lived in constant fear of spreading the virus to their friends and family. one worker commented on the conditions at the now-closed plant. During their interview, the worker spoke of densely packed production floors, locker rooms, and cafeteria lines. Another worker spoke to Fox 32 Chicago, commenting that "Coughs echoed through the bathrooms."
Smithfield has since stated it is being "proactive" and is setting out to add additional protections for workers; this includes plexiglass barriers, hand sanitizing stations, and taking the temperatures of employees before they are allowed to work.
The Sioux Falls plant is just one of many meatpacking plants shut down because of coronavirus infections. In all, half a dozen plants have been shut down due to infections, which has caused concerns that disruptions to the U.S. meat supply may be forthcoming. The Sioux Falls plant alone accounted for 5% of the domestic meat supply.