COVID-19 has spread inside a Tyson beef processing facility in Amarillo, marking the latest apparent outbreak of the virus at a Texas meatpacking facility. Plant employees interviewed by the Observer say the company largely failed to protect them from the coronavirus and kept operating the facility despite workers’ falling ill. One plant employee has died, employees say.
No infections at the plant had been publicly reported as of Thursday afternoon. But employees interviewed for this story say the virus was present as early as late March, when Tyson posted a notice inside the facility to tell employees that at least one worker had tested positive. The company did not widely distribute respiratory masks to workers until mid-April, they say. Employee John Atwood says he tested positive for COVID-19 in late April and is in quarantine at home. His wife also works at the plant and is awaiting test results to determine if she is infected.
The Observer has changed Atwood’s name, as well as that of the other employee named in this story, after employees expressed concern that Tyson might retaliate against them for speaking to a reporter.
