Dozens of Tri-Citians sick with coronavirus from outbreak linked to beef plant

At least 39 people may have COVID-19 as the result of a coronavirus outbreak at a meat packing plant south of Pasco.

Of those, 30 people connected to the Tyson Fresh Meats plant live in Benton and Franklin counties, says the Benton Franklin Health District.

At least 28 are employees and had positive lab tests for the new coronavirus.

The other two cases in the Tri-Cities area are considered probable because they have symptoms and close contact with at least one of the lab-confirmed cases.

Walla Walla health officials have reported nine more COVID-19 cases related to the plant in Wallula.

They include six people in the Burbank and Wallula areas and three living in Walla Walla. As of Friday, the cases related to the plant account for nearly half the 20 known cases in Walla Walla County.

The cases may include workers, family members or others.

About 1,400 people work at the beef slaughtering and processing plant.

The six in Burbank and Wallula are all recovering at home. People they were in close contact with when they may have been contagious before they knew they were sick are under home quarantine.

No additional information about those who live in the Tri-Cities area was released by the Benton Franklin Health Health District.

Walla Walla County health officials said they are working with the Benton Franklin County Health District and Tyson.

They said in a statement that they were confident that Tyson was “taking necessary precautions to prevent, or mitigate, additional spread.”

Tyson responds

When a case is confirmed at a Tyson plant, the person is sent home and Tyson notifies anyone known to have been in close contact with the person, said Gary Mickelson, senior director of public relations for Tyson Food.

“We’ve also been educating team members on COVID-19, including the importance of following CDC (Centers for Disease Control) guidelines away from work,” he said.

Elsewhere in the U.S. the company closed one plant, and it is taking safety precautions at its plants as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The company said it is taking the temperatures of workers before they enter the Wallula and other plants and is moving to the use of infrared temperature scanners at some plants.

Workers are being provided more break room space to allow social distancing and workstation dividers have been installed, Mickelson said.

It was working last week to acquire more face coverings for production workers, Tyson said in an online statement.

It also was increasing space between workers on the production line at some plants.

Cleaning and sanitation has been increased, including in employee break rooms and locker rooms to protect workers.

Workers are encouraged to stay home if they are sick and a five-day waiting period for short-term disability benefits has been waived so workers can receive pay while they are sick with COVID-19, the company said.

Tyson announced plans to give up to $60 million in bonuses to 116,000 front-line team members and Tyson truckers in the United States as they work to keep grocery stores stocked with meat during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Workers can qualify for a $500 bonus to be paid during the first week of July, based on what it called a “relaxed” COVID-19 attendance policy from April through June to encourage workers to stay home when they are sick.

The additional cleaning being done at Tyson plants across the nation sometimes requires suspending a day of production.

In addition, adding more space between workers slows the production line.

“Our meat and poultry plants are experiencing varying levels of production impact, due to the planned implementation of additional worker safety precautions and worker absenteeism,” said Tyson chief executive Noel White in a statement last week.

Work stopped at a Tyson pork plant in Iowa last week when more than two dozen workers there were diagnosed with COVID-19.

“While these are challenging times, we remain committed to protecting our people while continuing to meet the needs of our customers and consumers across America,” he said.

This story was originally published April 13, 2020 at 10:54 AM.