Fourteen meatpacking plants have resumed operations or are soon to reopen after President Donald Trump last month signed an order to keep production going amid the pandemic.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday listed the plants, half of which were Tyson Foods facilities, along with several JBS and Smithfield Foods sites.
"I'd say probably a week to 10 days until we are fully back up," Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said last week during a White House meeting with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds.
In efforts to meet demand, meat companies have taken steps to protect their workers while dealing with pressure from government officials to keep up production. Coronavirus outbreaks have led to slower production lines and temporary closures at the plants as thousands of workers test positive for covid-19, along with several virus-related deaths, resulting in empty grocery store meat cases.
"Obviously, because of some employees, they won't be back full force for a while, but we think the stores will see more variety and more meat cases fully supplied," Perdue said.
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After deep-cleaning facilities and testing hundreds of workers, Tyson Foods said last week that it would reopen its largest pork plant in Waterloo, Iowa, and a beef plant in Pasco, Wash., which have each been closed for about two weeks.
Tyson is also reopening five meat and poultry plants in Perry, Iowa; Logansport, Ind.; Robards, Ky.; Portland, Maine; and Dakota City, Neb. Gov. Reynolds said at the meeting that the Perry plant is running at 60% capacity, calling it a "strong startup."
Trump signed an executive order last month under the Defense Production Act to ensure meat and poultry plants were open during the crisis. Trump has said the order would clear any "liability issues" that companies had, calling the plants "critical infrastructure" that would upend the food supply chain if disrupted.
At least 4,913 meatpacking workers have contracted the virus and 20 have died so far, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Information for the study came from 19 states. Because of the limited scope, labor advocates claim thousands more cases and at least 30 related deaths.
The United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents 250,000 meat and food processing workers, criticized the Trump administration's "rush" to reopen more than a dozen plants.
Union President Marc Perrone said in a statement that it was a "reckless move that will put American lives at risk and further endanger the long-term security of our nation's food supply."
He urged officials to mandate that meat companies supply protective gear, ensure daily testing for all workers, enforce social distancing and provide full paid sick leave for any workers who are infected.
"I have reserved optimism that things will go well for them," Black Hawk County Sheriff Tony Thompson said in a Monday news briefing. The county is home to Tyson's Waterloo pork plant.
In early April, Thompson and other county officials had toured the facility and, he said, "walked out with jaws on the floor" because of the plant's poor conditions. After touring again weeks later, he said a lot of his concerns were gone.
Tyson and others have increased worker protections by supplying masks, installing clear plastic dividers on the production lines and checking for fevers at the door. Most recently, Tyson said it was doubling bonuses for workers and working with medical groups to handle worker cases and offer on-site coronavirus testing.
After seeking out comments from Tyson workers about the reopening, Thompson said they were pleased, citing quotes like "my work station has never looked better" and "everything is cleaner."
"I have to assume that no news is good news," he said. "But I am waiting on bated breath to make sure that is true."
Business on 05/12/2020