Possibly 300 or more employees and contract workers at Triumph Foods’ St. Joseph, Mo., pork processing facility may have tested positive for COVID-19 without showing any symptoms.
Some news reports put the total at 355; a Missouri Dept. of Health and Senior Services notice from May 1 reported 305 total positive tests without specifying which were asymptomatic. In a video message to employees on May 1, CEO Mark Campbell acknowledged the large number of cases without symptoms without mentioning the number.
Apparently all 2,300 or more employees at the facility, one of the largest pork plants in the country, have been or will be tested. The facility is on the border of Missouri and Kansas.
”Being swabbed wasn’t much fun, yet the test results will be critical to understanding where the coronavirus is in our facility and our communities,” Campbell said in the video.
“Those testing positive are asked to self-isolate at home and will be paid according to our COVID wage continuation policy,” Campbell said. Triumph is a producer-owned company.
The Triumph plant is one of dozens of meat and poultry plants across the country that have seen outbreaks of the virus, most resulting in plant closings and sparking concerns of possible food shortages. On the other hand, the "national emergency" reopening of meat plants also poses a dilemma.
