CDC assessing plan to get Smithfield plant in Sioux Falls reopened after coronavirus outbreak

Federal health officials hope to take the first steps toward getting a Sioux Falls pork processing plant and coronavirus hot spot back up and running.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had staff in Sioux Falls on Thursday touring the Smithfield Foods, Inc. plant. That step comes three weeks after the first COVID-19 case involving a Smithfield employee was determined on March 24.

The CDC team is assessing conditions and developing an action plan needed to safely reopen the hog harvesting facility that's been shut down for nearly a week, according to Gov. Kristi Noem's office.

"Next steps of the plan are contingent on feedback from the CDC’s efforts today," Noem's spokesman Ian Fury told the Argus Leader Thursday morning.

Read more: https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/2020/04/16/smithfield-foods-coronavirus-sioux-falls-cdc-assess-plan-reopen/5144291002/