KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A spike in positive COVID-19 cases in several southwestern Kansas counties connected to the region’s meat-packing plants has state and federal officials working to address the problem.
Mike Beam, Kansas agriculture secretary, said during a press conference Monday there are “several” meat processing facilities in southwest Kansas that process “up to 25 percent” of the nation’s supply of fresh beef.
As of Monday afternoon, Lyon County reported 77 COVID-19 cases. Several food processing facilities operate out of Emporia in Lyon County, including a Tyson beef processing plant.
A Tyson Foods spokesperson declined to provide a specific number of employees who have contracted COVID-19 due to the "ever-changing situation." However, Tyson plants have implemented social distancing practices, as well as allowing additional time between shifts to "reduce worker interaction," adding tents to sites to "serve as outdoor break rooms," removing chairs in break rooms and no longer meeting in conference rooms, according to a Tyson Foods statement.
Production areas, break rooms and locker rooms also are sanitized daily, according to the statement.
"As an added precaution, we may sometimes suspend a day of production to complete an additional deep clean of facilities," the statement read.
Ford County’s COVID-19 cases have reached 180. Its two largest employers are the National Beef Packing Company and Cargill Meat Solutions.
Seward County has 79 coronavirus cases, and its top employer is the National Beef Packing Company, which has outlined its steps to prevent COVID-19 on its website. National Beef Packing Company is screening staff for fevers, and anyone whose temperature is 100.4 degrees or higher is sent home. Those individuals are not allowed to return to work until they have had 72 consecutive hours without a fever.
Disposable masks and face shields are available for employees, and stainless steel partitions have been added to production areas, according to the website. Other safety measures at National Beef facilities include increased cleaning and sanitizing and instituting procedures that allow drivers to stay in their trucks while on-site.
Beam said that the Department of Agriculture has been in “regular dialogue” with companies throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I've actually had conversations almost daily here for the last 30 days with these entities, trying to make sure that we keep them operating,” Beam said. “In these conversations, it's apparent that they're working hard to meet or exceed the guidance provided by the Center for Disease Control to minimize the risk to the workers in those facilities.”
Cargill, which has plants in Missouri and Kansas, confirmed to 41 Action News that employees at those facilities have tested positive for COVID-19. A Cargill spokesperson said that mandatory 14-day quarantines have been required of employees who test positive for the virus, along with any employees they might have been in contact with. Other measures that the spokesperson said have been implemented "for weeks" include taking employee temperatures, providing face masks, increasing social distancing, staggering breaks, offering shift flexibility and "increasing distancing between employees."
Gov. Laura Kelly also announced on Sunday that more personal protective equipment, supplies and coronavirus testing would take place in Finney, Ford, Lyon and Seward counties.
"Agriculture is a facet of our state’s most critical infrastructure — Kansas doesn’t just feed the state, we feed the world,” Kelly said in a news release. “This is particularly true of our frontline workers in meatpacking plants across the state who process a significant portion of the nation’s supply.”
The facilities, Beam said, are implementing changes to keep workers and the community safe during the coronavirus pandemic.
Beam said some of those adjustments include spreading out workers, installing individual shields between workers and ensuring that employees have “facial protection.”
“At times, these changes have resulted in some scaled back production to accommodate the scheduling and staffing changes, along with the enhanced cleaning and sanitizing efforts, but the production continues,” Beam said. “We've been very pleased with how quickly these companies have addressed the issues with preemptive steps to enhance worker safety, and with how transparent they have been with us throughout this process.”
However, Beam said that there is not a food-safety issue related to the processing facilities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that there is “no evidence of food or food packaging being associated with transmission of COVID-19,” according to Beam.
There also have been no “widespread” food shortages, according to Beam.
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