Written by John Lounsbury
In July PBS Frontline took a look at the exposures and risks taken by America’s food production workers, many of them immigrants and undocumented workers. Without these essential workers food would rot in the fields, meat processing plants would be shuttered, and America’s food supply would be significantly disrupted. These workers have a high risk of contracting COVID-19 due to their working conditions.
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From Wikipedia:
The meat industry has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.[1] Outbreaks of the virus have taken place in factories operated by the meat packing industry and the poultry processing industry. These outbreaks affected dozens of plants, leading to closures of some factories and disruption of others, and posed a significant threat to the meat supply in the United States. By April 27, there were at least 115 facilities with cases across 23 states, and at least 4,913 workers diagnosed positive with COVID-19, or approximately 3 percent of the workforce, with 20 deaths reported.[2] By May 5, over 10,000 meatpacking plant workers in 29 states and working at 170 plants had tested positive for the coronavirus. At least 45 of those meat industry workers had died.[3] As of May 20, at least 15,300 workers have been infected with COVID-19 at 192 different meatpacking plants in the United States, based on ongoing reporting by the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting and USA Today. At least 63 of those workers have died from the disease.[4]
By June 6, at least 20,400 COVID-19 infections were recorded in 216 meatpacking plants in 33 states, according to analysis by the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting, in cooperation with USA Today.[5] At least 91 workers have died.[1] By July 10, the CDC reported 239 facilities with 16,233 confirmed cases and 86 deaths.[6]
Hog processing plant Wikipedia
From YouTube:
While millions of Americans have been sheltering in place, FRONTLINE has been investigating the hidden toll of the pandemic of those who cannot stay home: Agricultural workers, many of whom are undocumented immigrants, who have been deemed essential to the nation’s food supply.
In “COVID’s Hidden Toll,” numerous farmworkers speak out about their experiences of having to choose between their health and their jobs – and what they say is a lack of protection from their companies. With Latino people nationwide dying from the coronavirus at a disproportionate rate, the film examines outbreaks at several growers and meat packing plants over the past several months, and how new evidence indicates that agricultural workers have faced a heightened risk of contracting the coronavirus.
This video is 53 minutes in length.
Source: YouTube
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