Nearly 15% of workers tested so far at Tyson plant near Tri-Cities are infected

The first round of COVID-19 test results for Tyson Fresh Meats near Pasco has found 56 workers with the illness caused by exposure to the new coronavirus.

Initial results were for 400 of the approximately 1,400 plant workers tested starting last Friday. They showed an infection rate of 14%.

Those testing positive included 31 who live in Benton or Franklin counties, with many plant workers living in the Tri-Cities. Four of those testing positive live in Walla Walla County and one lives in Umatilla County, Ore.

The county of residence was still being determined Thursday evening for the other 20 workers who tested positive.

More results are expected on Friday and likely into the weekend, said the Walla Walla County Department of Community Health.

Employees who tested negative are eligible to return to work when the plant reopens. Those testing positive must be symptom free for seven days before returning to work.

Tyson Foods is still considering when to reopen the plant after it closed for testing. Part of the decision is dependent on having enough healthy employees to operate safely.

The plant processes enough beef in a day to feed 4 million people, according to Tyson Foods.

COVID-19 prevention

When it reopens, it will need to adhere to the COVID-19 safety measures outlined by the Walla Walla County Department of Community Health before the closure.

Measures include screening for COVID-19 symptoms, temperature checks, social distancing, placement of plexiglass dividers between work stations and communication about the disease that all workers can understand, including those who speak little English.

The new results from the employee testing are in addition to 134 people previously reported to have COVID-19 from the outbreak at the Wallula beef plant. All but 10 live in Benton and Franklin counties.

One worker, a 60-year-old Pasco man, died April 20.

Tyson is paying for the testing, which was required by Walla Walla county officials, and also said it would pay workers for the time they were off work waiting for test results. After workers were tested, they were sent home to self isolate until their results were available.

The Benton Franklin Health District and the Walla Walla County Department of Community Health will be working to determine the close contacts of those who tested positive.

The Benton Franklin Health District is seeking volunteers to help with contact tracing.

They prefer people with healthcare experience or a degree in a related field of science.

It also needs volunteers to assist its experts with translation, particularly for people who speak Burmese, Karen, Arabic and Spanish.

Applications are available online at www.waserv.org. More information about applying is here.

This story was originally published April 30, 2020 at 6:30 PM.