About 90 workers at the Tyson Fresh Meats facility in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, have tested positive for COVID-19.
According to a Fox2 report, the Metro Public Health Department (MPHD) said it was investigating a cluster of COVID-19 cases that are associated with the facility that employs about 1,600 people.
In a statement, the public health agency, which serves the City of Nashville and Davidson County, said: “The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Tennessee Department of Heath and MPHD are working directly with Tyson officials on the steps to mitigate the threat of the disease as part of plant operations. MPHD will continue to monitor confirmed cases and close contacts among Davidson County residents. Cases that (involve) residents of other counties will be monitored by the health departments where they live.”
MPHD, on its website, reported that as of April 21, Davidson County has had 1,936 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
The Goodlettsville facility produces case-ready beef and pork products. An expansion of that facility, which included the addition of four production lines and expanded storage facilities, was announced in 2014.
Employees at multiple Tyson Foods facilities have tested positive for COVID-19. Most notably, the company’s pork production plant in Columbus Junction, Iowa, and the poultry processing plant in Camilla, Georgia.
The Columbus Junction plant went offline about two weeks ago after about two dozen workers tested positive for the coronavirus. The company later confirmed that two workers at that facility died. The plant resumed production on a limited basis on April 21.
In Camilla, four workers did as a result of contracting COVID-19. That plant continues to operate with extra measures to protect employees in place, such as dividers in work areas, requiring workers to wear face coverings, providing more breakroom space, and the installation of infrared scanners that check the temperatures of people who enter the facility.
Tyson Fresh Meats is a subsidiary of Tyson Foods, which is the largest broiler company and fifth largest turkey company in the United States. It is also a major producer of pork and beef products, and recently entered the plant-based protein sector.
View our continuing coverage of the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic.
