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Rochelle Foods

Ten months into pandemic, Rochelle Foods and Illinois health department still at odds over COVID-19

By Madison McVan, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting, and Derek Kravitz, Brown Institute for Media Innovation | February 9, 2021

An infected worker allegedly told the plant's manager he was feeling better after his positive test. He told the county health department the opposite.

The Trump Administration told an Illinois health department to leave Rochelle Foods alone. Then a second COVID-19 outbreak struck the plant.

By Derek Kravitz, Brown Institute for Media Innovation; Georgia Gee, Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism, Columbia Journalism School; Madison McVan, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting; and Ignacio Calderon, USA TODAY Network Agriculture Data Fellow | January 18, 2021

A May 1 conference call with federal, state and local health officials sent one message: Despite a COVID-19 outbreak amongst it workers, Rochelle Foods was to remain open. This fall, a second outbreak at the plant wasn’t publicly reported.