TAR HEEL — Coronavirus cases in North Carolina meat-processing plants have increased 57 percent in seven days.

Monday evening, the state Department of Health and Human Services said the number of cases is growing close to 1,000.

“There are 834 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in 19 outbreaks at meat-processing plants,” spokeswoman Kelly Connor wrote in an email to the Bladen Journal.

Seven days earlier, the case count was 479 — a 57 percent increase. Connor said outbreaks are in Bertie, Chatham, Duplin, Lee, Lenoir, Robeson, Sampson, Union, Wilkes and Wilson counties in addition to Bladen.

State officials have declined to name the plants. Companies have also been reluctant to say how many of their workers are infected. The state defines an outbreak as two or more cases. The virus is not foodborne.

County health departments have had varying levels of response to help communities understand the public health threat. For example, Bladen County initially said on April 18 one worker at the Smithfield plant in Tar Heel was infected but not a resident of the county. Since then, the Health Department here has given no information on the company’s workers related to COVID-19. But health departments in Robeson and Columbus counties have, confirming last week at one point that at least 50 workers have been infected.

Those reports have not included information on recoveries or deaths. It is not known if the spike in Bladen’s case count is tied to the Smithfield plant; the county had just one case before April 18 and 32 through Monday evening.

The plant on N.C. 87 is the world’s largest pork production facility. A Smithfield plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was reported to have 438 positive cases of COVID-19 the same week the plant here reported its first case. That plant eventually had about 850 cases. It was temporarily closed but has since resumed operations.

The Bladen County plant employs an estimated 4,400 to 5,000, and was processing approximtely 30,000 to 35,000 hogs a day before the virus caused changes to work stations inside.

DHHS’s first report April 21 also named Robeson, Duplin, Lee and Chatham counties as home to plants with outbreaks. The state, in a release, said food “processing plants report that they are doing temperature and symptom checks, encouraging sick employees to stay home and implementing paid sick leave for those with COVID-19 or suspected of having COVID-19. They are also providing personal protective equipment and employing social distancing policies where possible.”

Smithfield and other companies have been working to keep production going. President Donald Trump on April 28 declared meat processing plants “critical infrastructure,” compelling them to remain open and thereby hopefully reduce the risk of shortages.

That same day, DHHS said there were 13 outbreaks in 11 counties, totaling 479 cases. Thursday, DHHS upped its totals to include 15 outbreaks, 11 counties, and 604 cases.

Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said more than 4,900 workers at meat and poultry processing facilities have been diagnosed with COVID-19, including 20 who have died. The CDC said its findings were from 115 plants in 19 states that employ about 130,000 workers. With some states not providing data, the numbers are believed to be less than actual.

Seven plants in North Carolina are known, according to print and broadcast reports.

In addition to the Smithfield plant in Tar Heel, cases have been confirmed at Clinton’s Smithfield Foods plant in Sampson County, Lumber Bridge’s Mountaire Farms plant in Robeson County, Siler City’s Mountaire Farms plant in Chatham County, Mount Olive’s Butterball plant in Duplin County, Sanford’s Pilgrim’s Pride plant in Lee County, and Lewiston Woodville’s Perdue Farms plant in Bertie County.

The others are unconfirmed.

Tyson Farms operates the only meat processing plant in Wilkes County, in Wilkesboro, and operates a plant in the Union County seat of Monroe. Sanderson Farms has a plant in Lenoir County, in Kinston, and Smithfield Foods has plants in Lenoir and Wilson counties in Kinston and Wilson, respectively.

The information process has been problematic on several fronts. Communities are concerned and have expressed the desire for more information, and companies have been reluctant to share much and instead have had to respond to reports in the media they say are not accurate.

For example, at Smithfield in Tar Heel, a published report late last week citing anonymous sources said the plant was close to being shut down. It was also accusatory of the plant’s protocols.

There’s been no interruption at Tar Heel plant, and a day later the corporate office in Smithfield, Virginia, chose to share another side of the situation as it relates to all of its plants.

In its release, the company said, “Demands for things like 100% compliance with all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidance; access to personal protective equipment (PPE) and handwashing stations; robust communication in multiple languages; generous paid leave policies, including full bonus eligibility; and priority access to voluntary COVID-19 testing are totally and completely reasonable. The company agrees!

“At the core of the company’s COVID-19 response is an ongoing focus on employee health and safety and continued adherence with — at a minimum — the CDC and OSHA guidance. Across all its facilities, the company is providing its team members with PPE, including masks and at least temporary face shields. The company believes that the recent executive order will provide priority assistance in securing an ongoing supply of enhanced PPE, most critically permanent face shields, as well as aid the company in securing broader COVID-19 testing for its employees.

“The company has implemented mass thermal scanning and installed physical barriers on its production floors and in break areas. It also continues to explicitly instruct employees not to report to work if they are sick or exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms and that they will be paid, including any and all bonuses, when they are quarantined. These measures remain mandatory and nonnegotiable conditions for the company to operate.”

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Alan Wooten

Bladen Journal

Alan Wooten can be reached at 910-247-9132 or awooten@bladenjournal.com. Twitter: @alanwooten19.