Iowa — The Iowa Department of Public Health is releasing new information on confirmed outbreaks of COVID-19 at five Iowa workplaces, including one where more than half of employees tested positive.
On Tuesday, Dr. Caitlin Pedati, Medical Director of IDPH, approved the release of testing results of employees at four Iowa meat packing plants and TPI Composites in Newton. Each of the facilities have a confirmed outbreak, meaning 10% or more of the workforce in a single location is sick.
At the Tyson plant in Perry, 730 employees tested positive for COVID-19. That is 58% of their workforce. Iowa Premium Beef in Tama saw 221 positive tests, or 39% of its workforce.
The Tyson plant in Columbus Junction had 221 postitve tests, 26% of its workorce. Tyson’s Waterloo facility had 17% of its employees test positive.
TPI Composites in Newton had 131 positive tests, or 13% of its workforce.
207 Iowans have now died from COVID-19. More than 10,000 Iowans have tested positive.