As coronavirus cases climb to 81 at Tyson beef plant near Tri-Cities, more improvements required

The number of people with COVID-19 linked to the outbreak of Tyson Fresh Meats south of Pasco grew to 81 on Saturday but local authorities say closing the plant would be the wrong move.

Instead, Walla Walla County’s health department officials say they want to see continued improvements in worker protections at the beef slaughter and packaging plant.

If that doesn’t happen, they could take further action, including closing the plant until it is safe to reopen.

About 1,400 work at the Wallula plant. The outbreak there is sickening people who live in four counties and two states.

“The Band-Aid approach would be to close the plant,” said Meghan DeBolt, director of the Walla Walla agency. “We would see a reduction in cases for a time period as isolation and quarantine measures, when followed properly, do work.”

But DeBolt said she saw closing the plant as a short-term solution “and we want to ensure Tyson, and other companies put in place proper mitigation efforts so they can continue to operate through the pandemic.”

“We do not know how long this pandemic will last, but we are in it for the long haul,” she said. “Being reactive will not help anyone.”

Growing coronavirus cases

The reported cases at the plant jumped 24% from Thursday to Friday, and another 14 percent by Saturday.

The Benton Franklin Health District said on Saturday there were 73 people in the Tri-Cities area, where many plant employees live, with COVID-19 linked to the outbreak at the plant.

The Walla Walla County Health District reported Friday that a seventh Walla Walla County resident linked to the plant outbreak had COVID-19. He is a Walla Walla city resident in his 60s, said the district.

In addition, Umatilla County in Oregon has a case linked to the Tyson plant outbreak.

People had symptoms before Tyson began to take precautions to protect employees as of April 6, according to the Walla Walla County agencies.

The first Walla Walla County resident employed at the plant to test positive, received test results on April 1, indicating symptoms likely began in March.

With an increase in cases a week ago, Tyson stepped up its protective measures and no cases have been reported with symptoms that started after Monday, April 13, according to the Walla Walla County agencies.

It was unclear Saturday whether any of the new Benton and Franklin county cases had symptoms that started more recently.

More coronavirus protections

Over the past week, Tyson began to require all employees to wear masks, according to information from the Department of Community Health.

Earlier the plant was making masks available if workers wanted them and had adequate numbers of surgical masks available, according to health officials.

The Department of Community Health also is requiring increased communication and education for plant employees by Monday, April 20.

Signs and messages need to be understood by employees who speak more than 11 languages, health officials said.

The Washington state Department of Labor and Industries is requiring that workers be educated in the language they understand best about the new coronavirus and how to prevent transmission.

The plant already has taken steps that include increasing the time between shifts and assigning separate doors for people coming to work and leaving work to help prevent close contact.

A tent has been set up to provide more space for workers eating meals and taking breaks.

Shields have been installed within the cafeteria and break areas to help prevent transmission of the new coronavirus among workers.

Touch-free hand sanitation stations have been set up throughout the plant, with more planned when supplies arrive at the plant.

The Walla Walla Department of Community Health environmental health team will be making random visits to the plant to monitor the effectiveness of the steps Tyson is taking.

It also will be monitoring Tyson’s control of the outbreak through case investigations, complaints filed with the Department of Labor and Industries, information from the Benton Franklin Health District and through the number of COVID-19 cases.

This story was originally published April 18, 2020 at 11:36 AM.