Large meat processing plants are starting to reopen all over the country after they were closed down by health officials due to the outbreak of the coronavirus. With the plants going back to business, a crisis in the country will be averted, which might have been caused by food shortages. For example, Tyson Foods reopened its plant in Waterloo, Iowa. It was that plant where more than 1,000 workers tested positive for coronavirus.

Health officials and the plant management have implemented measures which are aimed at limiting the spread of the virus in the production facilities. They have cleaned and sanitized the work areas. They have also placed plastic barriers between the work stations to help prevent the virus from spreading. They are also performing screenings of the employees to ensure that there is no one infected entering and working in the facilities.

However, there are those who are saying that these same measures have already been practiced by the food processing plants before the pandemic, as part of their food safety guidelines, so there are fears that the measures might not be enough to prevent another outbreak.

The lack of production from the meat processing plants around the country has resulted in the loss of 38% of the total pork processing capacity of the United States. That drop has prompted major retailers to limit the amount of purchase that can be made by consumers. A further drop in the processing capacity would have triggered even more serious measures such as rationing.

Hopefully, the preventive measures adopted by the processing plants will be enough to prevent major outbreaks again among the workers in the plants so that production can continue.