IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack says he’s “deeply concerned” about a report showing that the first known coronavirus outbreak at a Louisa County meatpacking plant was far more severe than the state publicly acknowledged.
Loebsack wrote a letter to Gov. Kim Reynolds requesting information about the state’s response to the outbreak at the Tyson Foods pork processing plant in Columbus Junction. The letter came two days after The Associated Press reported on documents showing Tyson officials told safety inspectors on April 30 that 522 employees were known to be infected. A dozen were hospitalized and two died. But at a May 5 news conference, the Iowa Department of Public Health said that only 221 workers at the plant had tested positive.