A 65-year-old employee in the plant’s laundry
department died Sunday after contracting the
virus, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported.
The governor blocked local authorities from
closing the plant in an April 16 order that
banned social gatherings in northeastern Iowa.
It granted the exclusive power to the Iowa
Department of Public Health to shut down
businesses over coronavirus concerns.
The governor and the department had been
working with Tyson to keep the plant open.
Reynolds argued that the economic disruption
caused by plant closures outweighed the
health risks, warning that farmers might have
to euthanize their pigs. She said that “people
are gonna get” the virus in large workplaces but
most will experience mild or no symptoms.
While it’s true that for most people, the virus
causes mild or moderate symptoms that clear
up in a few weeks, it can lead to more severe
illness and even death for some, especially older
adults and those with existing health problems.
Lawmakers said an earlier closure would have
better protected public health and been less
harmful economically. “My concern is the impact
this has had because we didn’t act soon enough,”
said Democratic Rep. Ras Smith of Waterloo.
The governor didn’t respond directly when
asked Wednesday if the state should have
intervened. She defended her overall response
to the crisis but said, “There’s always more we
could have done.”
Tyson resumed operations Tuesday at its pork
plant in Columbus Junction, Iowa, which had
been shut down for two weeks after an outbreak
infected hundreds and killed two workers.