OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - More than 200 workers at a northeastern Nebraska pork processing plant have tested positive for COVID-19, according to plant owners and local health officials.
Tyson Foods said in a Tuesday news release that 212 workers at its plant in Madison tested positive for the virus; 74 of them had no symptoms. The numbers were the results from testing from May 1-4 of 1,467 workers, contractors and vendors at the plant, and the results were released jointly by Tyson and the Elkhorn Logan Valley Public Health Department.
The plant was shut down in early May for deep cleaning and sanitization in the wake of a surge in coronavirus cases among meatpacking plant workers.
Tyson workers who test positive receive paid leave and may return to work only when they have been medically cleared to do so, the company said. Tyson said most of those workers who tested positive are considered to be already recovered.
Returning workers will undergo daily health screenings and temperature checks before they are allowed to enter the plant, the company said, and all workers will be provided mandatory face masks. A range of social distancing measures - including physical barriers between workstations and in break rooms - will also be practiced.
Madison is about 100 miles (161 kilometers) northwest of Omaha.