Tyson Plant In Goodlettsville Has Nearly 100 COVID-19 Cases

A cluster of COVID-19 cases has cropped up at a Tyson Foods plant in Goodlettsville. The Metro Public Health Department estimates that 60 employees who live in Davidson County and 30 who live outside the county have tested positive for the coronavirus.

The announcement comes as meat plants throughout North America have temporarily shut down in recent days to prevent the spread of COVID-19, according to Reuters. A Tyson Foods slaughterhouse in Iowa closed earlier this week after multiple workers tested positive.

But Tyson employees across the country told the Shelbyville Times-Gazette earlier this month that the company had not done enough to keep employees safe.

“If you speak about getting any kind of protective equipment besides one face net — not a face mask, but a face net — you get sent home,” one employee in Nebraska wrote.

“We work elbow to elbow to elbow in some places,” a worker in Georgia told the Shelbyville paper. “I asked the nurse for a mask and she said I could not get one. I only wanted to protect the next person standing by me because I had a cough.”

The company is following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control, local public health departments and the federal departments of health and agriculture, Worth Sparkman, a spokesperson for Tyson Foods, told WPLN News in an email. He said the company notifies anyone who may have been in close contact with someone who tests positive and that information is also shared with supervisors and other team members who haven’t been exposed.

Sparkman added that visitors have been barred from Tyson facilities and that the company’s attendance policy has been relaxed “to reinforce the importance of staying home when sick or to meet childcare needs.” The company has also bought more than 150 infrared temperature scanners, to screen employees for fever on their way into work, though not every food production facility has one, yet.

Sparkman said the company has “stepped up deep cleaning and sanitizing” of production plants and is working on ways to allow for more social distancing.

“We’re working hard to protect our team members during this ever-changing situation, while also ensuring we continue fulfilling our critical role of helping feed people across the country,” he said.

A spokesperson for Metro’s public health department says epidemiologists are working with Tyson officials “to mitigate the threat of the disease.” Tyson Foods did not specify if it had any plans to shutter the plant if the virus continues to spread.