Tyson meat plant in Storm Lake to shut down temporarily after state confirms coronavirus outbreak

Tyson Foods announced a plan to temporarily close its Storm Lake pork processing plant late Thursday, hours after the Iowa Department of Public Health confirmed the facility was the site of a coronavirus outbreak that infected more than one-fifth of its workers.

Tyson's meat processing facilities in Iowa and elsewhere have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously, the company has had to temporarily close plants in Waterloo, Columbus Junction, Waterloo and Perry, as well as in Dakota City, Nebraska; Logansport, Indiana; and Pasco, Washington, so it could installing additional worker safeguards.

In late April, Tyson Chairman John Tyson warned in full-page newspaper ads that "the food supply chain is breaking."

In a news release Thursday, the company attributed the closure in Storm Lake in part to "a delay in COVID-19 testing results and team member absences related to quarantine." It said it was ceasing slaughter and would finish processing operations "over the next two days."

"Additional deep cleaning and sanitizing of the entire facility will be conducted before resuming operations later next week," the release said.

It said Tyson had completed COVID-19 testing of employees and contractors at the plant and promised to share results "once complete data is available, with health and government officials, team members and other stakeholders as part of our efforts to help communities where we operate better understand the coronavirus and the protective measures that can be taken to help prevent its spread."

The news came one day after Reisetter said the state will only publicly confirm coronavirus outbreaks at meatpacking plants or other businesses when asked by members of the media.

Reisetter, speaking at Thursday's state coronavirus press briefing, said 555 of the Storm Lake plant's 2,517 employees had tested positive for the coronavirus. That's well beyond the 10% threshold Reisetter said is requested — although not required — for businesses to report outbreaks to the state health department. Reisetter said that percentage is derived from the department's “standard for other infectious diseases, and so that's the decision that was made when we entered into COVID.”

"Right now, the Iowa Department of Public Health becomes aware of outbreaks at businesses when the employers tell us or when the state facilitates testing at a particular facility," Reisetter said. "Businesses are not currently required to report outbreaks to the Department of Public Health. Additionally, Iowa law allows confirmation about outbreaks only when necessary to protect the health of the public.

"We've determined confirming outbreaks at businesses is only necessary when the employment setting constitutes a high-risk environment for the potential of COVID-19 transmission." 

More:Iowa officials won't disclose coronavirus outbreaks at meatpacking plants unless media asks

After nearly 500 additional positive cases were reported this week in Buena Vista County, Tyson Foods said Wednesday it had conducted large-scale coronavirus testing at its pork processing plant. Tyson also operates a turkey processing plant in Storm Lake that has approximately 750 employees.

In addition to the Tyson plants, closures have hit Smithfield Foods, which resumed operations at its largest pork processing plant, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, near Iowa's border, after closing it for nearly a month. And JBS has reopened a pork processing plant in Worthington, Minnesota, just across Iowa's border. Iowa farmers are euthanizing as many as 600,000 pigs because of the resulting production slowdowns.

More:Tyson tests workers for COVID-19 at Storm Lake pork processing plant employing 2,400

The state does not make information about meatpacking outbreaks available on its website, coronavirus.iowa.gov, as it does with outbreaks at long-term care facilities. This is despite growing evidence that meatpacking plants, where workers labor on mechanized lines in close quarters, are a source for coronavirus outbreaks.

Mayra Lopez, vice president of the Storm Lake League of United Latin American Citizens of Iowa, has heard plenty of concerns and frustration regarding the reporting procedures. Lopez has friends and family who are among the many minority workers at Tyson’s Storm Lake operations.

“I feel that there could’ve been more adequate steps taken within the pork plant to prevent such a large number of confirmed cases,” Lopez told the Register on Thursday.

She said she and other community members met with a Tyson Foods human resources representative earlier this month, looking for additional information on how to handle coronavirus at the Storm Lake plants. Lopez said the meeting laid out health procedures being taken but that Tyson “wasn’t as transparent as they could’ve been.”

“We felt like we wanted to be there to support Tyson,” Lopez said, “so if there were any gaps that we community members could fill in with our connections, we could maybe help Tyson. I understand the HR person was probably sharing only as much as Tyson was allowing her. We didn’t reach a conclusion on how we could help. Tyson made it sound like they have a handle on things. I appreciate them taking the time to meet with us, but the meeting was very short, very scripted, very vague."

Lopez added that fear regarding the potential for an outbreak in Storm Lake “has been here for a couple weeks,” and that “something was bound to happen.”

“I honestly feel like the company has failed its employees,” Lopez said. “With 555 cases confirmed, that seems pretty steep.

“They have opened up a mobile clinic for Tyson employees, but I don’t know if that plays a factor with why cases have skyrocketed over the last couple of days. We finally, finally have the testing we’ve been waiting for. I don’t think people are getting results quickly enough. I’ve heard Tyson employees waiting as long as a week to hear back if they have a confirmed case. By the time they get the results, it could be too late and they’ve passed it on to someone else.”

Lopez has fewer concerns at the turkey processing plant in Storm Lake. She said she believed management there had better addressed prevention concerns.

As of 3:45 p.m. Thursday, the Iowa Department of Public Health was reporting 18,584 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 506 deaths. That's an increase of 224 positive cases and 15 deaths over the previous 24 hours.

Dargan Southard can be reached at msouthard@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Dargan_Southard.