Investigate Midwest (https://investigatemidwest.org/tag/pandemic/)
OSHA and USDA waited until April of last year — more than three months into the pandemic and after a plant shut down because workers fell ill — to plan a response to the rising number of COVID-19 cases at meatpacking plants, according to emails obtained by Public Citizen.
The COVID-19 pandemic has deepened some farmers' stress. A few shared how they're managing it.
About 1 percent of all PPP loans went to agribusinesses.
After a state of emergency was declared in the U.S. on March 13, beef production, prices and spread were likely impacted by consumer stockpiling of meat and declining demand from restaurants as take-out and delivery became the only options, according to the report.
At least two million animals have already reportedly been culled on farm, and that number is expected to rise. Approved methods for slaughtering poultry include slow suffocation by covering them with foam, or by shutting off the ventilation into the barns.