Reports: 60 workers at Michigan meat packing plant test positive for COVID-19

A meat packing plant in west Michigan had 60 employees test positive for COVID-19, according to reports.

JBS Meat Packaging in Gun Plain Township had to shut down over the weekend after the employees tested positive, according to WOOD TV.

However, the plant was back open on Monday with limited staffing, Allegan County health officials told WOOD.

JBS processes beef and pork. It says it operates more than 60 meat, poultry and prepared foods facilities across the United States with more than 240,000 employees worldwide.

On Monday, JBS announced the indefinite closure of its Worthington, Minnesota, pork production facility because it could not “safely operate.” The facility employs more than 2,000 and processes 20,000 hogs per day.

“To protect the health and safety of its workforce, the company focuses on keeping the virus out of its facilities,” reads a statement from JBS. “This can be more challenging in communities where the virus has taken hold. When COVID-19 is prevalent in the community, fear is heightened, absenteeism rises and the challenge of keeping the virus out becomes greater. When absenteeism levels become too high, facilities cannot safely operate.”

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