COVID-19 outbreaks at meat-processing facilities in North Carolina are being kept quiet. According to The Guardian's latest report, although the conducted tests in the meat factories were found positive, officials still refused to provide any information about the case.
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Coronavirus outbreaks have struck workers in meat processing plants around the world. But this is not about meat—it’s about profit.
https://t.co/d0WJIxGJYX pic.twitter.com/QYCrfdh6lK — Socialist Worker (@socialistworker) June 30, 2020
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Widespread testing for COVID-19 was conducted in a chicken processing facility in western North Carolina in early June. Employees at the plant were scared according to the report since several workers had already tested positive.
The company, Case Farms, was reportedly not providing proper protective gear. According to The News Herald's 2017 report, the company has also been repeatedly accused of animal treatment and workers' rights violations.
"We don't have a lot of space at work. We are shoulder to shoulder," said one of the employees, who refused to be named, during the recent union call.
"I'm afraid to go to work, but I have to go," added the worker.
The employee also said that the testing turned up to 150 positive cases at the meat facility. 136 new coronavirus cases, which is a 25% increase in the Case Farms' total caseload, was reported by the health department for Burke county, was the meat facility is located, on June 8.
The current issue is just one of the currently taunt relationship between the economy and public health in North Carolina, as the number of infected cases and hospitalizations rises.
Coronavirus outbreaks in North Carolina's meat processing plants
According to The Guardian, with $1.2bn in chickens, hogs, and turkeys exported every year, North Carolina is one of the biggest poultry and pork-producing states in the United States. In rural parts of the state, areas that often lean on food processing or meatpacking facilities as major sources of employment, health departments have been quiet about the coronavirus outbreaks in those factories.
Our SARVAL division operates Category 3 rendering plants, processing raw animal by-products from abattoirs, meat processing plants and butchers' shops to produce a range of tallows and processed animal proteins (PAP): https://t.co/UYum0TaHTl pic.twitter.com/5V3ONXWpY6 — SARIA UK (@sariauk) July 1, 2020
According to a tally provided by the Food and Environment Reporting Network, more than 36,000 farm and meat processing employees have tested positive for coronavirus. At least 116 died since the pandemic started; but, the true number is likely higher. The Burke County Health Department does have data about where people with positive cases work using case interviews and contact tracing, but decides not to provide it, said spokeswoman Lisa Moore.
"We know where they are, but we are not a county that can divulge every place where they are," she said.
Moore also added that Case Farms requested the health department direct all questions regarding their facility to a company representative.
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