Texas meatpacking plant reverses course, will allow state to test workers

by Alexa Ura, Texas Tribune


With its workforce at the center of a growing coronavirus outbreak in the Texas Panhandle, the massive JBS Beef meatpacking plant north of Amarillo said Wednesday afternoon that it would work with state health officials to begin testing its roughly 3,000 employees. The company had initially rejected the state's offer to test all of its employees, according to a state spokesperson.

A state response team recently created to facilitate testing in the Texas Panhandle has checked thousands of workers at another nearby plant but had not been allowed to test workers at the JBS plant in Cactus, said Seth Christensen, a spokesperson for the Texas Division of Emergency Management. JBS Beef said in a statement Tuesday evening that there were "no plans" for targeted testing of its mostly immigrant workforce. At least one meatpacking plant employee has died after being infected, and others remain hospitalized.

Late Wednesday afternoon, after the Tribune reported on the lack of testing, the company issued a new statement saying "we have been in conversations this afternoon to finalize the logistics for the testing, which will happen late next week."

In the latest statement, company spokesperson Nikki Richardson said that before today the company was "not aware of testing being offered by the state for our employees. In previous conversations, we made it clear that we would actively encourage our team members to participate in a community testing program, should one become available." Christensen said the state had extended its offer earlier, and confirmed the company is now working out details to begin the testing.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2020/05/13/texas-jbs-meatpacking-plant-rejects-state-efforts-coronavirus-test/