In Washington state, 111 workers at a Tyson Foods meat processing plant have tested positive for COVID-19. It’s the latest in a series of outbreaks which have forced the closure of 15 U.S. meatpacking plants operated by Tyson, Smithfield and JBS, which have slashed U.S. meat production by at least 25%.
Meanwhile, an industry trade group in Delaware says a major poultry processor recently killed 2 million chickens and disposed of their carcasses, after labor shortages left it unable to process the birds for the market. John Tyson, chair of the board of Tyson Foods, warned in a full-page ad in several newspapers Sunday, “The food supply chain is breaking.”