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Ever since slaughterhouses became coronavirus hot spots, the meat industry has been asking the Trump administration for help. Hundreds of employees have been getting sick or not showing up for work for fear of contracting the virus. Labor unions, which had been largely quiet in their dealings with many of the large meat companies before the pandemic, started to hold regular news conferences to highlight the growing number of deaths among their workers. And in some states, health departments were shutting down meatpacking plants, even as the companies warned that the nation’s meat supply was in peril. (Corkery, Yaffe-Bellany and Swanson, 4/29)

The Trump administration moved this week to try to mitigate the effects from the shutdowns of beef, pork and poultry processing facilities amid the Covid-19 pandemic that have potentially endangered an important part of the nation’s food supply chain. But the policy moves have generated confusion. “We are, in many regards, in uncharted territory,” said James E. Baker, a former legal adviser to the National Security Council and a professor of national security law at Syracuse University. (Savage, 4/29)

Tensions are escalating at food plants between essential workers who feel pressure to stay on the job through the coronavirus pandemic and their employers, who are striving to maintain the country’s food supply chain without interruption. Union officials and worker advocates are fighting for unpaid leave and other accommodations for workers who fear contracting the virus or spreading it to family. Companies are pushing back, in some instances threatening to fire workers who don’t come in or battling unions to make sure factories can stay open. (Maher, Bunge and Berzon, 4/29)

Local Iowa officials worry that President Donald Trump's executive order requiring meatpacking plants to remain open could threaten the health of 2,800 workers at the Tyson plant that closed last week because of a COVID-19 outbreak. But pork producers say the president's action provides "hope and relief" for farmers who face destroying thousands of pigs backed up on farms as the novel coronavirus has both slowed and closed meat processing plants across the country. (Eller and Rodriguez, 4/29)

President Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to keep meatpacking plants in the U.S. open during the coronavirus pandemic. Tuesday's move comes after more than a dozen beef, pork and poultry plants across the country shut down either temporarily or indefinitely in the past few weeks. The president's executive order to keep the plants open notes that some of the plant closures "may be inconsistent with" worker safety guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and that "unnecessary" plant closures can have a big impact on the meat supply chain. (Runyon and Whitney, 4/29)

Nearly 400 workers in Georgia’s prized poultry industry have tested positive for the disease caused by the coronavirus, and one has died from his illness, according to Georgia Department of Public Health statistics obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The 388 workers who have been sickened by COVID-19 represent about 2% of the estimated 16,500 people employed at 14 chicken processing plants across the state. (Redmon, 4/29)

The coronavirus pandemic has scrambled the U.S. food system, crushing the restaurant industry while pushing up grocery sales at record rates. The crisis is remaking every link in the supply chain, from farms to manufacturers to shippers to stores. Officials are warning of labor shortages and waning meat supplies. Ultimately, it could bring permanent changes to the way food is processed and transported. For consumers, it could mean fewer choices, higher prices and an adjustment in the way we shop and stock our pantries. (Gasparro, Kang and Stamm, 4/29)

If you want to buy disinfectant wipes, good luck finding them on the store shelves. Products that help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, including disinfectant wipes, cleaning sprays and other items, flew off the shelves weeks or months ago as consumers prepared for the pandemic. It could be several more months until high demand items like sanitizer wipes and sprays are easily available in stores again. (Diaz and Zaslav, 4/29)