Nearly 1,400 Tyson workers at 3 Iowa plants get coronavirus
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Nearly 1,400 workers at three Tyson Foods pork processing plants in Iowa have tested positive for the coronavirus, the state reported Tuesday, as deaths surged to a new daily high.
The Iowa Department of Public Health revealed that the state’s largest outbreak to date has been at the Tyson plant in Perry, a town in central Iowa. There, 730 workers were confirmed to have the virus, a stunning 58 percent of those tested, the department said.
The Tyson plant in Waterloo has had 444 workers test positive, and its Columbus Junction plant has had 221 confirmed infections, the department said.
The department said that 258 workers at a National Beef plant in Tama tested positive, as did another 131 employees of a Newton wind turbine blade manufacturer.
The department’s deputy director, Sarah Reisetter, said state officials determined that releasing the locations and scope of those five workplace outbreaks was in the public interest.
Tyson and the other employers had declined requests to release such figures.
Iowa reported Tuesday that 19 more residents have died from the coronavirus, a one-day high. The State Hygienic Laboratory in Coralville said that it hoped to clear a backlog of tests by Tuesday afternoon.
