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By April 27, 2020, 19 states had reported COVID-19 among workers at 115 meat and poultry processing plants: 4,913 cases, about 3 percent of the roughly 130,000 people who worked there, and 20 deaths. The industry, essential to the U.S. food supply, employs about 500,000 people, many working close together.
CDC's summary of ways to slow COVID-19 in meat and poultry plants. Credit: CDC, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Why the plants were vulnerable
CDC teams assessed plants on site and remotely, and 19 of the 23 states that had reported cases in the industry sent data.
| Challenge | Examples |
|---|---|
| At work | hard to keep workers 6 feet apart on production lines; hard to apply COVID-19 disinfection guidance |
| Money | financial pressures, medical leave and disability rules, and attendance bonuses that encouraged people to work while sick |
| Language | workers from many backgrounds — one plant reported 40 primary languages — making training and safety messages harder |
| Home and travel | crowded, multigenerational housing and shared rides to work |
Whether workers were infected at the plant or in the community could not always be told apart.
What plants did
Some plants staggered shift and break times, added outdoor break areas, installed plexiglass barriers where practical, began or improved symptom and temperature screening, and added vehicles so fewer workers rode together.
What CDC recommended
- Engineering: eliminate hazards where possible; arrange work so people are at least 6 feet apart, not facing each other, with fans not blowing from one worker onto another.
- Cleaning: on top of the thorough cleaning USDA already requires, disinfect high-touch surfaces such as handles, buttons and railings with EPA-approved products.
- Hygiene: handwashing stations, and alcohol-based sanitizer where washing isn't possible.
- Administration: screen workers and visitors for symptoms and temperature; let sick workers stay home without losing pay or seniority; drop incentives to work while ill; plan for isolating workers who fall sick at work.
- Face coverings: cloth face coverings where distancing isn't feasible, and in entrances, break rooms and shared vehicles — as a complement to distancing, not a replacement — alongside the protective equipment workers already use, put on and taken off correctly.
- Training: in workers' own languages and at suitable literacy levels, by culturally competent trainers, covering symptoms, leave policies, distancing, protective equipment, hand hygiene, testing and how the virus spreads.
As testing became more available, its role in quickly finding and addressing cases in these plants was to be considered. Acting together on these measures could protect workers and keep the food supply running.
Limits
Not every affected state reported. Case counts depended on how much testing was done, so they are not a measure of infection among all meat and poultry workers. Reporting lags affected the numbers, and widespread community spread made it hard to know where people were infected.
Sources
Based on "COVID-19 Among Workers in Meat and Poultry Processing Facilities — 19 States, April 2020," by Jonathan W. Dyal and colleagues (CDC and state and local health departments), Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; a work of the United States government in the public domain.
Licenza: CC0 1.0 (pubblico dominio) · Tratto da www.cdc.gov
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