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has caused the largest cluster in the United States in a corner of South Dakota ? Infections spread like wild fire through a pig Factory , and questions remain about what The Company is for the protection of Workers .

On the afternoon of the 25. March, Julia sat down at her laptop logged in and to have a false Facebook account. Had you opened it in the middle of the school, to secretly boys monitor crushing on had. But now, Many years later, it is a much more serious purpose was to serve.

"Can you look please in Smithfield ," She typed a message to an account with the name Argus911, the Facebook-based tip line for The Local newspaper, The Argus Leader. "They have a positive [Covid-19] case, and plan to remain Open . "From "Smithfield ", She was referring to the Smithfield Foods pork processing plant in their town of Sioux Falls , South Dakota . The Factory - a massive, eight-storey white box perched on The Banks of the Big Sioux River is the nine largest hog-processing facility in the United States. When at full capacity, it processes 19,500 freshly slaughtered pigs per day, planing, grinding, and smoke in millions of pounds of bacon, Hot Dogs , and spiral cut ham. With 3,700 employees, it is also the fourth largest employer in The City .

"Thanks for the tip," the Argus911 account answered. "What is the role of the Workers who have tested positive?"

"We Are not quite sure," Julia wrote back.

"OK, Thank You ," Argus911 replied. "We Will be In Touch . "

The Next day at 7:35 p.m., The Argus Leader: "Smithfield Foods worker tests positive for coronavirus". The Reporter confirmed by a company spokeswoman, That , in fact, one of The Employees had tested positive, was in a 14-day quarantine, and That his or her work area and other common spaces were "thoroughly disinfected". But The Plant , as part of the "critical infrastructure industry", from The Trump administration would remain fully functional.

"Food is an essential part of all our lives, and our More Than 40,000 U.S. team members, thousands of American Family farmers and our Many other supply chain partners are an important part of our nation, the answer to Covid-19," Smithfield CEO Kenneth Sullivan Said in an online video statement released on 19 March, to explain the decision to keep factories Open . "We take the utmost precautions to the health and well-being of our employees and the consumer. "

But Julia was alarmed.

"There were rumors, there were cases even before That ," She recalls. "I Heard from people in The Hospital of Smithfield specifically. You know only by word of mouth. "

Julia did not work in The Factory . She is a student in her 20s, stuck At Home again, after closed the University in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Your parents, two years of Smithfield employees, with whom you are particularly close, told her what had happened in The Factory That Day . It is only one of several Adult Children of a Factory worker - a lot of The First -generation children of immigrants, some of them were called the children of Smithfield Will speak to those who have taken it upon themselves over the outbreak.

"My parents do not know English. You can not speak for themselves," Said Julia. "Someone has to speak for you. "

her family, like Many others in Sioux Falls , did everything They could to avoid the sick. The parents of Julia to stay all of their remaining holiday time At Home . After work, They took their shoes off at The Door and went straight to the shower. Julia, you bought fabric to pull headbands at Walmart their mouths and noses, while on The Line .

For Julia, alerting the media was just The Next logical step in the attempt to keep you healthy, by creating public pressure, in the vicinity of The Plant down and keep their parents home. Instead, it marked the beginning of almost three anxiety-filled weeks, in which mother and father next to a Factory , you know, can be contaminated, in order not to lose jobs, which They could not afford. They stood side by side, less than a foot away from their colleagues in manufacturing technology, They Went in and out of the crowded locker rooms, corridors and canteens.

During this time, The Number of confirmed cases located under Smithfield employees slowly, from 80 to 190 to 238.

15. April, when Smithfield closed finally, under the pressure of the South Dakota governor's office, The Plant had employee the Number One hotspot in the United States, with a cluster of 644 confirmed cases in Smithfield and people who contracted it from them. A total of Smithfield -related infections account for 55% of the workload in The State , with far More Than its far more populated Midwestern neighbor States in the cases, in per capita GDP. According to the New York Times, the Smithfield Foods case figures are exceeded, the USS Theodore Roosevelt Navy ship and The Cook County Jail in Chicago, Illinois.

These figures were released, a day after The First Smithfield employees died in The Hospital .

"He got The Virus . He was very healthy," his Wife , Angelita, told The Bbc in Spanish. "My husband Will not be the only one to die. "

The Smithfield pork plant, is located in a Republican-led state, is one of the five in the United States, has not issued any kind of shelter-in-place order has become a microcosm illustration of the socio-economic disparities to be free of the global pandemic. While Many white-collar-refuge Workers throughout the country in place, and work from home, Food -industry Workers as the Workers in Smithfield are considered "essential" and must remain at The Front .

"These orders for key Workers , lower pay than the average job in America to be, in some cases by significant margins. So, home health aides, Cashiers - to be Absolutely necessary, on The Front lines, physically report to work," Said Adie Tomer, a fellow at the Brookings Institute. "They are predominantly African-American or Hispanic than the overall working population. "

The workforce in Smithfield is made up mainly of immigrants and refugees from countries such as Myanmar, Ethiopia, Nepal, Congo, and El Salvador . There are 80 different languages spoken in The Plant . Estimates of the average hourly wage of $14-16 an hour. The hours are long, The Work is grueling, and stand on a Production Line less than a foot often means away from your co-Workers on both sides.

The Bbc spoke of a half-dozen current and former Smithfield employees who say That while They were afraid, continue to work to go, the decision between employment and health was an impossible choice.

"I have a lot of bills. My Baby Will come Soon - I have to work," Said a 25-year-old employee, whose Wife is eight months pregnant. "When I the positive, I'm really worried That I can't save My Wife . "

factories for further processing of Food throughout the country coronavirus outbreaks to disrupt have the potential to experience the Land of the Food -supply chain. A JBS meatpacking plant in Colorado was closed after five killed and 103-infections among The Employees . Two Workers at a Tyson Foods plant in Iowa also died, while 148 others were sick.

The closure of a large meat processing plant in Sioux Falls caused massive upstream fault, stranding farmers without a place to sell their cattle. Around 550 independent farms send their pigs to the Sioux Falls plant.

At the announcement of the shutdown, Smithfield CEO, Sullivan warned of "serious, perhaps devastating consequences" for the supply of meat.

But, according to Smithfield employees, their Union representatives and advocates for The Immigrant community in Sioux Falls , the outbreak of the disease, led to the closure was avoidable. They claim, early on, requirements for personal protective equipment were ignored, That the sick employees incentives to continue to work, and That information about the spread of The Virus was kept, even if They were in danger of exposing the family and the wider public.

"If the Federal government wants the society to remain Open , Then whose responsibility is it to ensure That these companies do what They need to do to preserve them?", Nancy Reynoza, founder of Que Pasa Sioux Falls , a Spanish-language news source, the Said Said , you hear of desperate Smithfield Workers for weeks.

The Bbc provided a detailed list of questions and Workers , the allegations of Smithfield , and They gave no comment to the allegations you put on individual cases.

The outbreak left people like Julia, their mother, in the case of chronic diseases, overwhelmed by The Fear That their parents put their lives in danger in an attempt to get your jobs to keep.

"Smithfield - you don't care about The Employees ," Said Neela. "She only cares about your money. "

coronavirus pandemic, long reads, south dakota

Source of news: bbc.com