TAR HEEL — The Smithfield Foods plant here is one of 27 in North Carolina contributing to roughly 2,000 cases of the coronavirus.
In response to a query from the Bladen Journal on Friday, a spokeswoman from the Department of Health and Human Services gave an update for statistics through Thursday.
Amy Adams Ellis’ email said 1,999 cases are confirmed in 17 counties. In addition to Bladen, the others are in Bertie, Burke, Chatham, Duplin, Hoke, Lee, Lenoir, Randolph, Richmond, Robeson, Sampson, Surry, Union, Wayne, Wilkes and Wilson.
She declined to give specific numbers for the Smithfield plant in Tar Heel, or to name the other plants throughout the state and how many of their workers are infected.
“The total number of reported cases went down yesterday because we identified and corrected for some errors in the data we received previously,” Ellis wrote. “Because this isn’t an industry we regulate, there is not a required reporting mechanism to the department. We learn in a variety of ways about instances of facilities that have multiple employees who have tested positive. Therefore, when we learn of errors in the information, we revise it.”
Information on meat-processing plants has been inconsistent and a patchwork of reporting from print and broadcast journalists.
For example, Mountaire Farms in Siler City at first reported how many employees were infected. They quit releasing the information after it reached 11. In Bladen County, the Health Department reported the first case at Smithfield Foods in Tar Heel and that the worker did not live in the county; it has reported no numbers since. Smithfield is the only major meat-processing facility in the county, employing between 4,400 and 5,000.
Other county health departments, however, did continue to report numbers of workers in their counties who worked at the plant in Tar Heel. That pushed the number well past 100.
Tyson Foods said Thursday it had tested 2,000 staff members and contractors who work at its Wilkes County facility in Wilkesboro. It shut down parts of the complex after learning 570, most of which didn’t show symptoms, had tested positive for COVID-19. Forsyth County’s health department confirmed dozens of its cases were linked to the Tyson facility in the neighboring county.
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.
Bladen County’s number of cases has risen steadily and consistently since the first case was reported at Smithfield. However, with the company, the county Health Department and DHHS all withholding information, it is not known if the surge is tied to the plant, if there is another hot spot in the county for the spread, or if there is no singular link to the rise in cases. The rate has been more than two a day for better than a month.
When it was first known there was a worker at the plant infected, Bladen County was just reporting its second case. That was April 18. On Saturday, the county had tallied two deaths and 92 cases. It is not known if those who died worked at the plant.
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