Nearly nine in ten coronavirus-infected meat and poultry workers were minorities, CDC finds


REVEALED: 87% of meat and poultry factory workers infected with coronavirus were minorities, CDC report finds

  • More than 16,000 employees of meat and poultry processing companies have tested positive for coronavirus
  • Of the nearly 10,000 workers for whom racial and ethnic information was reported, 87% were a minority
  • Five times as many Spanish workers were infected as black workers and eight times more than Asian workers
  • There are 1.3 times more white workers than Hispanic workers, but the number of Hispanics nauseated was fourfold higher than the number of whites
  • Meat and poultry workers are likely to work less than two meters apart, commute to a factory together, and sometimes live together

The vast majority of workers at meat and poultry processing plants infected with the new coronavirus were racial or ethnic minorities, a new report finds.

Of the more than 16,000 workers who contracted COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, about 87 percent were black, Hispanic, or Asian, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed Tuesday.

But some colored workers were more likely than others.

Five times as many Spanish workers were infected as black workers and almost eight times more than Asian workers.

At least 87% of coronavirus infected workers in meat and poultry processing plants are minorities.  Pictured: Protective barriers between Tyson Foods employees at the company's Springdale, Arkansas plant, April 24, 2020

At least 87% of coronavirus infected workers in meat and poultry processing plants are minorities. Pictured: Protective barriers between Tyson Foods employees at the company’s Springdale, Arkansas plant, April 24, 2020

There are 1.3 times as many white workers as Spanish workers, but Spanish workers were four times more likely to be sick than white workers.  Pictured: A Tyson Foods chicken processing plant in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, which reported that 25.4% of its workers have tested positive for coronavirus, courtesy of WBTV

There are 1.3 times as many white workers as Spanish workers, but Spanish workers were four times more likely to be sick than white workers.  Pictured: A Tyson Foods chicken processing plant in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, which reported that 25.4% of its workers have tested positive for coronavirus, courtesy of WBTV

There are 1.3 times as many white workers as Spanish workers, but Spanish workers were four times more likely to be sick than white workers. Pictured: A Tyson Foods chicken processing plant in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, which reported that 25.4% of its workers have tested positive for coronavirus, courtesy of WBTV

For the report, the researchers looked at 239 facilities with one or more laboratory-confirmed cases of the virus and deaths in 23 states reported through May 31.

A total of 16,233 workers were tested positive for COVID-19 and 86 were linked to the highly contagious disease.

The percentage of employees who became sick with the virus varied between 3.1 percent and 24.5 percent per facility.

About 88 percent of the sick people had symptoms such as coughing, fever, or shortness of breath, while 12 percent were asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic.

Five times as many Spanish workers were infected as black workers and eight times more than Asian workers (above)

Five times as many Spanish workers were infected as black workers and eight times more than Asian workers (above)

Five times as many Spanish workers were infected as black workers and eight times more than Asian workers (above)

Of the nearly 10,000 cases in 21 states in which race or ethnicity was reported, 87 percent occurred among minorities.

Hispanic workers, who make up a larger percentage of the minority, were most affected by 56 percent who tested positive.

About 20 percent of black workers contracted the virus, as did 12 percent of Asians.

Thirteen percent of white workers also tested positive.

The rates contrast sharply with the racial makeup of the meat and poultry workers, which is about 39 percent white, 30 percent Hispanic, 25 percent black, and six percent Asian.

It means that there are 1.3 times as many white workers as Spanish, but Spanish workers were four times more likely to get sick than white people.

‘[This suggests] that Spanish and Asian workers in this workplace could be disproportionately affected by COVID-19, “the authors wrote.

Continued efforts to reduce the incidence and better understand the effects of COVID-19 on the health of racial and ethnic minorities are important to ensure that workplace-specific prevention strategies and intervention messages are tailored to the groups most affected by COVID-19 be affected. “

The team says it is not surprising that meat-processing workers are at high risk of exposure to the coronavirus.

Many work for less than two minutes at a distance of less than two meters in tight spaces, there is shared transportation to and from the factory, and some even live together.

To reduce the risk of spreading, the CDC recommends that the worker be provided with “ culturally appropriate health education materials. ”

The Federal Health Service also suggests screening all workers, spacing them more than six feet, encouraging face masks and hand wash, and giving the worker six days to work.

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