The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sent teams to Virginia, Maryland and Delaware to work with the states to ensure meat processing facilities are complying with safety guidelines after a spike in COVID-19 cases in facilities.
“This team arrived on Virginia’s eastern shore [Tuesday],” Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said in a news release. “They met [Wednesday] morning with local health and worker safety teams. They’re beginning to assess the plants and ensure that they are operating consistent with safety guidelines that the CDC issued Sunday in response to the request from me and the governors from Maryland and Delaware.”
CDC will work with facilities to reconfigure spaces so workers can be separated and protected from each other. Northam said he expects all employees to be tested and that those who test positive will be given adequate health care and isolated to prevent the spread. Then, he said, the state will have more information going forward to identify the state’s next steps.
Northam signed onto a letter with Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and Delaware Gov. John Carney that requested federal assistance with outbreaks in meat processing facilities because the industry was interconnected across state lines.
President Donald Trump also signed an executive order requiring meat processing facilities to remain open to maintain the food supply chain.
