1:34
- ABC News
- July 7, 2020
16,000 meat packing workers had COVID-19: CDC
Eighty-seven percent of infected workers were racial or ethnic minorities.
Under the Trump administration OSHA has said it doesn't need to issue any new rules to deal with COVID-19 cases because it can enforce it's current requirements on workplace hygiene and safety, as well as use other authorities to enforce CDC guidance. But Michaels says that approach doesn't do enough.
\"The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which I ran for seven years, under the law can issue an emergency standard right now. That would tell every employer in the country there that what they need to do is they need to make a plan figure out exactly how people are being exposed their workplace. And how they're going to protect them up to the Secretary of Labor. Eugene Scalia has said OSHA has all the tools that they need. And we don't need to do anything more. But they're not really doing anything real.
CDC also wrote that \"expanding interventions\" could help protect workers. Many companies have taken steps like screening employees before they come to work, staggering shifts, installing plastic barriers between work stations and requiring face coverings. But some experts say more changes are needed to allow for social distancing or even installing the type of air filtration system used in hospitals.
But CDC found those steps are not universal in all facilities. While 80% of the facilities in the state data reported screening workers and 77% said they required face coverings, only 37% offered coronavirus testing.
","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/Politics/cdc-meatpacking-facilities-present-challenge-covid-19/story?id=71651227","legacySlug":"/news/story/cdc-meatpacking-facilities-present-challenge-covid-19-71651227","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"17:57","publishDate":"07-07-2020","updatedTime":"21:45","updatedDate":"07-07-2020","socialImage":{"alt":"The Smithfield Foods pork processing plant in South Dakota, one of the country's largest known coronavirus clusters, April 20, 2020, in Sioux Falls, S.D.","credit":"Kerem Yucel/AFP via Getty Images","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/meat-2-gty-er-200707_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"7/7/2020 17:57:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":71651227,"headline":"16,000 meat packing workers had COVID-19: CDC","mediaAssetTitle":"OSHA DIRECTOR/COVID-19/WORKPLACE SAFETY/MEAT-PACKING PLANTS","description":"Eighty-seven percent of infected workers were racial or ethnic minorities.","duration":"1:34","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2026/06/260623_abcnl_headlines_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["70607276","70404397","70389089"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"story","date":"May 11, 2020","headline":"Prisons, factories emerging as deadly coronavirus transit hubs","section":"news","slug":"/news/story/stationary-cruise-ships-prisons-factories-emerging-deadly-coronavirus-70607276","id":70607276,"image":{"alt":"Prisons, factories emerging as deadly coronavirus transit hubs","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/nursing-02-as-gty-200502_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Stan Grossfeld/The Boston Globe via Getty Images","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"April 30, 2020","headline":"Unions, advocates say Trump putting meat packing workers at risk","section":"news","slug":"/news/story/unions-advocates-trump-putting-meat-packing-workers-risk-70404397","id":70404397,"image":{"alt":"Unions, advocates say Trump putting meat packing workers at risk","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/tyson-plant-ap-jt-200429_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Charlie Riedel/AP","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"April 29, 2020","headline":"Trump signs order to keep meat processing plants open under Defense Production Act","section":"news","slug":"/news/story/trump-sign-executive-order-meat-processing-plants-open-70389089","id":70389089,"image":{"alt":"Trump signs order to keep meat processing plants open under Defense Production Act","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Politics/tyson-plant-sign-ap-jef-200428_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Charlie Neibergall/AP","ratio":"1x1"}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"16,000 meat packing workers had COVID-19: CDC","description":"Eighty-seven percent of infected workers were racial or ethnic minorities.","duration":"1:34","uploadDate":"07-07-2020","publication":"07-07-2020","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2026/06/260623_abcnl_headlines_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2026/06/260623_abcnl_headlines_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/news/story/cdc-meatpacking-facilities-present-challenge-covid-19-71651227"}},"playlist":[{"id":"134099631","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134041491","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"134033809","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"78356537","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133929295","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133958398","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133882828","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133810954","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133779647","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133810835","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133749799","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133777519","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133748258","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133730535","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133712423","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133694181","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133688738","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616358","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616342","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133522899","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:news:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"news","title":"16,000 meat packing workers had COVID-19: CDC","pubTime":"13:57","pubDate":"07-07-2020","modTime":"17:45","modDate":"07-07-2020","taxonomyTags":"none","id":71651227,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"16,000 meat packing workers had COVID-19: CDC","mediaAssetTitle":"OSHA DIRECTOR/COVID-19/WORKPLACE SAFETY/MEAT-PACKING PLANTS","videoId":71651227,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/news/story/cdc-meatpacking-facilities-present-challenge-covid-19-71651227"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/71651227","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/71651227","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};