20 APRIL 2020 - PERRY, IOWA: The main entrance to the Tyson Foods pork processing plant in Perry, IA. The Tyson pork processing plant in Perry reported over the weekend that at least two dozen workers had tested positive for COVID-19. The plant is closed Monday, April, 20 for a thorough cleaning and sanitization. At least five meat packing plants in Iowa have reported outbreaks of COVID-19. In addition to the five plants in Iowa, meat packing plants close to Iowa in Nebraska, South Dakota, and Minnesota have reported outbreaks of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2, Coronavirus). The Tyson plant has more than 1,400 workers and is the largest single employer in Perry. The state of Iowa has begun providing surveillance testing of meatpacking plants to more broadly test employees even if they are not experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. State "strike teams" made up of an epidemiologist, an infectious disease nurse and other personnel will advise facilities of preventative measures to take and administer contact tracing to determine who may have been in contact with any infected individual. The state of Iowa has begun providing surveillance testing of meatpacking plants to more broadly test employees even if they are not experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. State "strike teams" made up of an epidemiologist, an infectious disease nurse and other personnel will advise facilities of preventative measures to take and administer contact tracing to determine who may have been in contact with any infected individual. PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ