Every single one of a Tennessee farm’s 200 workers has coronavirus and another 555 people at a Tyson Foods in Iowa are infected as food shortage fears grow

• Henderson Farm in Evensville confirmed that all their 200 staff have covid-19
• Tyson Foods plant in Storm Lake is to close for deep cleaning for two days
• Concern is mounting about security of the U.S. food chain amid the pandemic 
• Meat supplies in stores could shrink as much as 35 per cent, CoBank reported
• Prices of all food types could spike 20 per cent, the rural think tank has warned 
• Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19

By HARRIET ALEXANDER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

A Tennessee farm has confirmed that every single one of its workers has tested positive for covid-19 and an Iowa pork processor is to cease operations after a mass infection, as concerns mount about the security of America’s food supply chain.

Henderson Farm in Evensville, in the east of the state, said that almost 200 people were infected.

All but three of the workers were asymptomatic, said Jon Schwalls, executive officer of Southern Valley, which runs the farm.

Henderson Farm in Evensville, Tennessee, has confirmed that all of their employees have covid

He told News Channel 9, the local ABC affiliate, that the outbreak was contained as no one had left in a month.

Most of those affected were still working, he said.

Schwalls said that the problem began when 200 people arrived from Mexico on March 28 to work at the farm, which grows tomatoes, peppers, squash and peppers, among other crops.

The workers were housed in what he described as a ‘college dorm room, bunk bed like’ area.  

The first case at the farm was confirmed on May 11, and the outbreak is believed contained

The U.S. death toll and case number, as of May 29. 

The first case was confirmed on May 11, and no one has left the compound midway between Knoxville and Chattanooga since, out of an abundance of precaution for the community. 

But the news will do little to allay widespread concern about the stability of the U.S. food supply chain.

The meat industry has been particularly hard hit.  

Unlike some other workplaces, employees at meat processing plants cannot easily observe social distancing guidelines and must stand close to one another. 

Donald Trump at the end of April signed an executive order forcing all meat processing plans to remain open. US meat suppliers say disruption to continue despite Trump order

Tyson Foods’s processing plant in Storm Lake, Iowa, is closing after a covid-19 outbreak

On Thursday Tyson Foods announced it was closing its pork processing plant in Storm Lake, Iowa, after almost a quarter of the workforce tested positive for covid-19.

A total of 555 people have been confirmed as having caught covid-19, the company said. 

The company said it would finish pork processing operations ‘over the next two days’. 

It said it will conduct ‘additional deep cleaning and sanitizing of the entire facility … before resuming operations later next week.’ 

It attributed the problems at Storm Lake in part to ‘a delay in covid-19 testing results and … absences related to quarantine.’ 

Meat processing plants across the country have turned out to be covid-19 hotspots.

Furthermore, production backlogs are forcing farmers to euthanize thousands of hogs that can’t be processed, drawing complaints from animal welfare advocates. 

The Washington Post reported on May 25 that 7,000 Tyson Foods employees had tested positive.  ……MORE HERE

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