SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said Tuesday that nearly 1,500 people linked to a coronavirus outbreak at a Smithfield pork processing plant have been tested for the disease this week.
The state helped set up a mass testing event in Sioux Falls where employees and their family members could get tested. The Republican governor said according to the Avera Health team that conducted the testing, about 10% of people who showed up had symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
So far, more than 1,000 people, including Smithfield employees and their close contacts, have contracted the disease - a figure that is expected to rise as more people linked to the plant get tested.
“We expect to have those results back in 48 hours,” Noem said of this week’s tests.
The Smithfield plant resumed some operations this week, opening two departments. The union that represents employees at the plant said it does not expect more departments to open this week. Smithfield has not shared its reopening plan and did not require employees to get tested.
Smithfield Foods said in a statement that it would share its reopening plans with the governor when they are available, but “at this time, we do not have a timeline to share.”
Noem has said the mass testing is an important step in getting the plant back up and running. She said she also plans to have a teleconferencing meeting with Smithfield employees to hear their concerns as the plant reopens, but she didn’t say when that would happen.
The closure of many meatpacking plants across the Midwest has sparked concern among farmers that they will soon have to euthanize and take a loss on hundreds of thousands of animals that were supposed to go to market.
Lt. Gov. Larry Rhoden, who will be stepping into the role of agriculture secretary after Kim Vanneman resigned Tuesday, said he will be lobbying the federal government to allow South Dakota slaughterhouses to sell meat over state lines without Department of Agriculture inspection. The meat would be inspected by the state instead.
Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg also joined 10 other attorneys general in asking the Department of Justice to look into alleged price fixing by beef meatpackers during the coronavirus crisis.
Health officials on Tuesday reported three new South Dakota deaths from COVID-19 and 53 new confirmed cases. All three deaths were in Minnehaha County, which has had most of the state’s confirmed cases. A total of 24 people have died of COVID-19 statewide.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.
Many of the deaths have come from virus outbreaks in nursing homes. One Sioux Falls facility has reported 13 deaths of people who tested positive for COVID-19.
Secretary of Health Kim Malsam-Rysdon said health officials are trying to limit the damage done to nursing home residents through “aggressive” testing and separating people who test positive. Health officials have also increased visits to facilities to check what they are doing to prevent infections.
South Dakota has had 2,721 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the outbreak began, but the actual number of infections is thought to be far higher because many people haven’t been tested and people can carry the virus without feeling sick.
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Check out more of the AP’s coronavirus coverage at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
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