KANSAS CITY, MO (AP) – The Associated Press reports Smithfield Foods will temporarily close plants in Wisconsin and at Martin City, Missouri because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The plant near Milwaukee will be closed for two weeks while the facility on the south side of Kansas City is closed indefinitely.
The Martin City location of Smithfield has more than 400 employees. That Missouri plant received raw material from the Smithfield plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota which is also closed.
Fox Business News reports The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will inspect the closed Smithfield Foods pork processing plant in South Dakota.
Smithfield CEO Ken Sullivan in a statement explained the Martin City plant cannot function. Sullivan said other Smithfield plants are following CDC guidelines like the use of thermal scanning, personal protective equipment, and physical barriers, plus offering workers paid sick leave.
Smithfield Foods had reported 518 infections in employees in Sioux Falls and another 126 in people connected to them. Smithfield said a small number of employees at the Wisconsin and Missouri plants have tested positive for COVID-19.
