Communities With Meat-Plants Keep Seeing Virus Spread at Faster Rates

(Bloomberg) -- Even while meat companies say they are stepping up safety protocols as facilities reopen, coronavirus keeps spreading at almost twice the national rate in U.S. counties with major plants.

Confirmed Covid-19 cases jumped 26% from May 5 to May 12 in the 74 counties with major beef or pork slaughterhouses, compared with a 14% rise nationally, according to a Bloomberg News analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. President Donald Trump issued an executive order April 28 directing meatpackers to reopen closed facilities.

It’s a continuation of the recent trend, with data in the prior week showing similar results, though on average the spread of the virus has slowed both in the meatpacking counties and nationally.

The Johns Hopkins data doesn’t differentiate between meatpacking workers and other county residents, so it isn’t clear what portion of the new infections are occurring among employees.

Meat-industry advocates have argued that high infections are partly due to aggressive testing of their workers following outbreaks. Some epidemiologists also say it is likely that outbreaks at meatpacking plants have seeded the virus in surrounding communities and it is now spreading more widely outside the facilities.

Conditions at meatpacking plants -- including difficulty maintaining social distance and adhering to heightened cleaning standards -- increased risks for spreading the virus, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded in a May 1 report.

Infections climbed even faster where slaughterhouses were outside major population centers, and may have a greater impact.

In counties with major slaughterhouses that have less than 1 million people, there was a 31% increase in confirmed cases for the week. Those 72 counties accounted for 6.5% of the nation’s new infections, though they represent only 3.1% of national population.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.