Meatpacking plants tied to more COVID-19 cases than known before, new business outbreak data shows

Maria Perez
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
An American Foods Group employee walks into the meat-packing facility on June 19, 2020, in Green Bay, Wis.

Wisconsin food processing plants have been linked to more COVID-19 cases than had been previously disclosed, including four deaths associated with a Green Bay facility, government data obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel shows.

The Green Bay plant, JBS Packerland, has been linked to at least 417 people who have tested positive, 69 more than previously reported by authorities. Four deaths, including two JBS workers, have been tied to the plant.

In the same city, American Foods Group has been linked to 366 cases, more than the previously-reported 241. Smithfield Foods in Cudahy has been tied to 105, up from 86.

The data, obtained through a public records request to Brown County, lists names of long-term care facilities, schools, restaurants, bars and other businesses linked to outbreaks or suspected outbreaks investigated by the state through June 1. 

The dataset represents the most detailed account of COVID-19 outbreaks in Wisconsin facilities and businesses in the early months of the pandemic. 

Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the state's largest business lobby, has sued Department of Health Services Secretary-designee Andrea Palm to prevent the release of updated numbers requested by the Journal Sentinel. A judge has temporarily blocked their release; a hearing is set for Monday.

The data shows that early in the pandemic only a small fraction of long-term care facilities, jails or prisons, food processing facilities and manufacturing plants had reported outbreaks. But those industries accounted for the vast majority of cases linked to outbreaks in businesses and other facilities.

The numbers obtained by the Journal Sentinel reflect only a portion — 28% — of COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin reported by June 1. They do not include cases when the likely source of exposure is unknown, household clusters or gatherings at private homes. The data only includes cases linked to outbreaks at businesses or other facilities or cases investigated as possible outbreaks as of June 1. 

RELATED: Meat packing workers fired after complaints about lack of COVID-19 precautions to share $264,000

Most investigations of Wisconsin facilities in that period were associated with five cases or fewer. And grocery stores and hospitals, feared as potential hotspots early in the pandemic, were linked to relatively few and limited outbreaks. 

Only 22 cases were linked to outbreak investigations at hospitals while 16 cases were tied to investigations at grocery stores. One death was linked to a grocery store, but it is unknown whether it involved a worker or customer. Another 16 cases were tied to investigations at chain stores, such as Walmart, that were classified as indoor workplaces. 

Patrick Remington, an epidemiologist and professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said grocery customers are relatively spread out and don’t stay for long in stores, which helps prevent the transmission of the virus. Grocery operators, he said, also moved quickly to protect workers and require customers to wear masks.

Hospitals, he said, have a long tradition of good infection control practices.

According to the data, investigations at dialysis centers, a clinic and other health care facilities were linked to 39 cases, including two deaths. The count excludes hospices. Two additional cases at a dentist office were also investigated.

Outbreak investigations into bars and restaurants revealed at least 63 cases, including an outbreak associated with a retirement party at a Kenosha bar that was tied to 12 cases. Half of all restaurant outbreak investigations were linked to fast-food chain establishments.

Restaurants were closed for dine-in during most of the time covered by the data, pursuant to state orders from Gov. Tony Evers and Palm. 

A relatively small number of facilities accounted for a significant amount of all cases reported. The 43 largest outbreak investigations were linked to about 1 in 7 of the COVID-19 cases reported in the state at the time.

Workers, public kept in the dark 

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services publishes daily updates on the number of COVID-19 cases and weekly counts of facility outbreak investigations by county and type of establishment. But the agency hasn’t published the names of businesses and the number of cases tied to each of those facilities.

For months, Wisconsin state officials did not respond to Journal Sentinel requests for this data. On Oct. 1, when state officials were preparing to release the information, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce sued to stop it.

The Journal Sentinel obtained part of the data — cases up through June 1 — in a separate open records request to Brown County.

The lack of information about outbreaks has kept many workers and consumers in the dark about the scope of the problem, the risks they face and how the virus has spread in their communities. Several meatpacking and food processing workers have told the Journal Sentinel that they learned about cases at their companies through co-workers.

RELATED: ‘Please do something’: As COVID-19 swept through Wisconsin food plants, companies, government failed to protect workers

An outbreak at a facility doesn’t automatically mean that the business didn’t adopt preventive measures. It could, in fact, mean that a business was proactive and tested its workforce while others didn’t.

But the Journal Sentinel has reported on instances when meatpacking and food processing plants failed to adopt adequate safety measures for weeks.

Wisconsin health authorities start a facility outbreak investigation when they identify two or more cases (or one for long-term care facilities) related to that business. If they determine that there is a link between the cases, the department refers to the investigation as an outbreak, said DHS spokeswoman Jennifer Miller. 

People who test positive for COVID-19 and report working at a facility or attending an event during their exposure or incubation period could be classified as part of an outbreak or an investigation, Miller said. That doesn’t automatically mean that they contracted the disease there, she said.

But if cases are determined to not be linked, then they aren’t considered an outbreak, according to a DHS document. The contacts of that first group who test positive — essentially the second generation — could also be classified as part of the outbreak. 

Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of immigrant advocacy group Voces de la Frontera, said the data on COVID-19 cases linked to workplaces should be public. Her group has filed complaints with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration against JBS, American Foods and Echo Lake Foods regarding COVID-19 safety.

“I think both the workers and their families and the public must know the number of sickness — and death — related cases in workplaces,” she said, “especially in workplaces where you have people who are working closely together and aren’t being given the protections that they need.”

As Brown County COVID-19 cases skyrocketed in the spring, its health department started to provide updates about the number of cases tied to specific meatpacking plants.

But in early May, the county stopped providing updates. County spokeswoman Claire Paprocki said keeping track of the count was too time-consuming.

According to the last county update, 290 employees at JBS had tested positive, and 58 other people with COVID-19, such as workers' household members, were linked to the plant. For American Foods, those numbers were 203 and 38.

The data obtained by the Journal Sentinel shows 417 cases at JBS and 366 at American Foods. The cases include workers and their contacts, such as household members. 

The data and records show four deaths linked to the JBS plant, including two workers.

JBS and America Foods have not responded to questions about how many of their workers have contracted COVID-19. 

When contacted recently by the Journal Sentinel, JBS confirmed the two worker deaths but not the others.

An email between Brown County employees obtained by the Journal Sentinel indicates that at least one death was linked to America Foods in July. 

Smithfield’s Cudahy plant outbreak was linked to 105 cases, according to the data, 19 more than previously reported.

At each of these facilities, workers or advocates have raised safety concerns.

In mid-April, Voces de la Frontera filed two complaints with OSHA, alleging that JBS and American Foods hadn’t provided masks for all workers and failed to take other measures. American Foods and Smithfield workers told the Journal Sentinel their employers didn’t take key safety steps for weeks.

OSHA eventually issued a $13,494 fine to JBS for not providing a safe workplace. OSHA’s website says that between April 9 and 17, JBS didn’t develop and implement effective measures to mitigate the spread of the virus and that employees at six fabrication tables were working close together.  

OSHA has closed an inspection into Smithfield's Cudahy plant without any findings of violations. The investigations into American Foods are pending. 

JBS spokesman Cameron Bruett said in an email that the company is contesting OSHA’s citation because the agency provided no pandemic safety guidance until April 26, long after they adopted preventive measures.

He said JBS started implementing measures in late February and placed an order for masks on March 19, two weeks before the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended them. In March, he said, JBS took steps such as removing vulnerable populations from the plant, screening employees for fever and installing barriers. JBS also closed its Green Bay plant and tested their workforce to mitigate the spread of the virus, he said.

Bruett said the plant has currently three active cases among more than 1,260 workers.

Keira Lombardo, Smithfield’s chief administrative officer, didn’t provide the number of workers at the Cudahy plant who have tested positive to date, or before June 1. But she said Smithfield continues to observe a low rate of incidence and has over a sustained period, including in Wisconsin.

Lombardo said in a statement that the company took measures that exceeded or followed all prevailing safety protocols and guidance from CDC and other health officials.

American Foods Group officials didn’t respond to requests for an interview.

For other food processing plants, local — or state — health officials haven’t provided any case counts.

Neither the Central Racine County Health Department nor breakfast and egg products processor Echo Lake Foods have said how many COVID-19 cases have been linked to the company’s Burlington plant.

But the data obtained by the Journal Sentinel show the plant had been linked to at least 38 cases before June 1. A second company plant in Franksville had been linked to seven.

Echo Lake Foods was approved in early April for a federal Paycheck Protection Program loan of between $5 and $10 million. The program’s aim was to help small businesses keep their workers on payroll during the pandemic. The loans can be forgiven if the employer meets certain criteria.

Despite being granted the loan, as of July, the company hadn’t paid sick leave to those employees who contracted COVID-19, according to five workers of the Burlington plant.

A plant worker said employees were reporting to work even if they were sick. Without a paycheck, he said, “How are you going to support your family?”

Echo Lake Foods officials didn’t reply to interview requests.

OSHA closed an inspection into the plant without finding violations, but two other COVID-19 safety related inspections into the food processor are still open.

Problems at long-term care facilities

As of June 1, long-term care facilities accounted for about 40% of all COVID-19 deaths reported in Wisconsin. And investigations into just 20 of the facilities, mostly nursing homes, were linked to a quarter of all deaths reported, or 150 out of 595.

DHS update memos obtained by the Journal Sentinel and other records show that early in the pandemic there were concerns about staffing shortages in some facilities.

Rick Abrams, CEO of the industry group Wisconsin Health Care Association & Wisconsin Center for Assisted Living, said that COVID-19 outbreaks at long-term care facilities are related to community transmission and that the virus can spread rapidly in any type of group living facility. 

RELATED: Nearly 300 Wisconsin nursing home residents died from COVID-19 in four weeks, 10 times more than the month before

By June 1, the nursing home with the most cases was Allis Care Center in West Allis, with 86. It also had the most deaths with 13. Allis Care didn’t respond to a request for an interview.

A state regulated facility in Brown County, Country Villa Assisted Living community based residential facility, was linked to 11 deaths and 45 cases.

A May 28 investigation report by the state Department of Health Services said 28 of 36 residents at Country Villa were diagnosed with COVID-19, as well as 18 of 27 staff. State investigation reports said the facility didn’t have enough staff and personal protective equipment. Staff members said they were asked to keep working when sick or positive for COVID-19 until replacements could be found, according to the reports.

A registered nurse who volunteered to help the facility reported that high school students with no training were working at the home, one of the reports said.

The facility's director declined to comment and owner Chad Reader didn't respond to interview requests.

Since June, infections at nursing homes haven’t stopped. By November 8, more than half of the nursing homes in the state had two or more cases among residents, and about 30% had more than 10, according to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data.

The data obtained by the Journal Sentinel also show the virus was spreading in Wisconsin facilities before public health officials said community transmission had been confirmed.

On March 17, state officials said for the first time there was community spread — people with COVID-19 whose infection couldn't be traced to travel history or contact with a confirmed case — in Dane, Milwaukee and Kenosha counties.

But at the time, the data show, at least seven facility outbreaks were already under way in those counties and three others. 

Maria Perez is an investigative reporter covering issues that affect minority communities and social services. She can be reached at maria.perez@jrn.com. You can follow her at @mariajpsl.