Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said 250 National Guard members have been moved to full-time duty, and she said some of those people are expected to assist with COVID-19 testing at meat packing plants in Iowa.
Iowa has been a hotspot for COVID-19 cases, with a substantial percentage of its cases occurring at pork and beef processing plants in the state. A press release from Reynolds’ office said that as of April 20, 3,159 people in the state have tested positive for COVID-19. She also reported that 79 people in Iowa have died in the pandemic.
Of the 257 most recent confirmed cases, 27 of them are Tyson Foods employees and 19 are National Beef employees, the press releases stated.
According to a Bloomberg report, those Iowa National Guard members could assist with testing and contact tracing for plant workers.
After Tyson Foods’ pork processing plant in Columbus Junction, Iowa, closed on April 6, operations were set to resume on a limited basis today. The company initially reported that about two dozen people who worked at the plant tested positive for the plant, and later confirmed that two people employed there died.
Turkey processor West Liberty Foods also reported positive COVID-19 cases among workers at its plant in West Liberty, Iowa. In a press release issued by the company on April 10, West Liberty Foods revealed that three people there had tested positive.
According to a Des Moines Register report, JBS has had 34 workers at its pork plant in Marshalltown have tested positive, and 16 people at the Prestage Farms plant in Eagle Grove.
During a telephone press conference on April 17, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue stressed the importance of meat and poultry plants getting access to an ample supply of COVID-19 testing kits, but added that helping those plants obtain test kits is not a primary function of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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