Meatpacking plants have become a major center of coronavirus infections, with the disease spreading at twice the rate in counties with meatpacking plants than in those without. It’s not just meatpacking plants, though. The Associated Press reports a surge of cases among construction workers in Austin, Texas, soon after they went back to work.
Going to work alongside other people is dangerous. “The people who are getting sick right now are generally people who are working,” a health official told Austin’s city council. “That risk is going to increase the more people are working.” But Republicans don’t care. Donald Trump made an executive order to keep meatpacking plants open, while one of his top officials blamed workers for getting sick. State and federal Republicans are using threats to push people back to work regardless of safety.
The numbers are stark. There is a meatpacking or chicken-processing plant, or a state prison, in every single one of the top 15 U.S. counties for per capita infection rates between April 28 and May 5. But meatpacking plants aren’t the only dangerous places to work. Amazon isn't disclosing its data, but workers tracking infections say at least 600 Amazon workers have gotten sick.
With nursing homes and prisons becoming major sites for COVID-19, it’s not just residents and inmates getting sick—workers are, too.
Workers from farms to pharmacies have complained that they aren’t getting the protections they need on the job. Chains like Starbucks and Target are ending hazard pay even though the hazard clearly hasn’t ended. Other chains, including Sephora, are getting ready to reopen.
The coronavirus infection map is a screaming cautionary tale, and Trump and Republicans are putting their hands over their ears and saying there’s no screaming, what’s the problem, time to go back to work.