Nearly 5,000 COVID-19 Cases Confirmed at US Meat Processing Plants - Disease Control

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd May, 2020) More than 4,900 cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and 20 fatalities have already occurred in well over 100 meat and poultry processing factories in 19 US states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday.

Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order requiring meat plants to remain open despite the pandemic.

"COVID-19 cases among US workers in 115 meat and poultry processing facilities were reported by 19 states," the CDC said in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). "Among approximately 130,000 workers at these facilities, 4,913 cases and 20 deaths occurred."

The United States overall has more than 1.07 million confirmed cases of coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University, including over 63,000 deaths.