COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on Tuesday announced 189 new cases of COVID-19 infections in Iowa, the largest single-day jump in positive tests, attributing 86 of them to the Tyson Foods pork processing plant in Columbus Junction.
The plant has been closed since April 6, after more than two dozen workers tested positive.
In a statement emailed to News 8 on Monday, Tyson Foods said "Protecting our team members continues to be top priority for us. As we continue assessing the situation at our Columbus Junction pork facility, and partnering with our local health department, we will extend the suspension of operations for this week. We will continue to pay our Columbus Junction team members while they are out and will also continue to divert livestock originally scheduled for delivery to Columbus Junction to our other pork plants, where possible."
Louisa County public health officials would not comment, but in neighboring Muscatine County, Director of PublicHealth at UnityPoint Health - Trinity Muscatine, Christy Roby Williams, said 44 of Tyson's infected employees reside in her county. (COVID-19 casese are counted in the patient's county of residence; Muscatine County as of Tuesday evening had 121 cases.)
She said the Iowa Department of Public Health is working with Tyson to consult and guide the company through mitigation, cleaning and to prepare the plant for opening.
"They’re testing all employees who have had direct exposure to COVID-19, known exposure, to ensure that they‘re also working on those mitigations before they open back up.
A Tyson Foods spokesperson said the company is continuing pay for Columbus Junction team members who have been shut out due to the closure.
An employee at Casey's General Store down the road from Tyson Foods said the number of customers has halved.
In Columbus Junction's business district, the impact has also been felt.
"It’s a little town, it’s not big. Like New York, we understand a lot of people, a big city. But here? It’s hard," said Griceli Amigon, the owner of Rey de Reyes, a grocery store that also serves food on the weekends. Business has dropped 30 percent since Tyson closed, she said.
Even so, she said, she would rather be closed.
'I’m afraid to open, but I know a lot of people need the produce, and I try." She said she shortened her hours to encourage people to stay in, "And I try to do my best, cleaning every ten minutes and using my mask, my gloves. I don’t know what more I can do."
She said she feared not for loss of income, but for a loss of life.
"Today one of my friend’s he passed away." She said her friend's husband had died of COVID-19, after a week of battling the illness. News 8 has not been able to confirm the death was related to the coronavirus.
"When his wife called me, she was crying, I can’t believe it. It was hard to hear that. I get more afraid now because I know he worked at Tyson." she said.
Roby Williams said she was not aware of a COVID-19 related death on Tuesday in Muscatine County, but she urged people to remain vigilent.
"It doesn’t matter where they live, this disease doesn’t discriminate against age, it doesn’t discrimate against person, personkind. Everyone is suspectible," she said. "I’m letting you know from behind the scenes. It’s tragic to what we’re seeing.