A meatpacking plant in Dubois County plans to reopen Wednesday. The Farbest facility has been closed the last two days after more than 100 workers tested positive for the COVID-19.
In a statement, Farbest president Ted Seger says all 588 plant employees were tested Friday. “Of those 588 tests, 101 were confirmed asymptomatic positives from various counties, while 464 of those tests results were negative and 23 tests are still pending verification,” the statement said.
The first confirmed positive case at the plant was April 28.
Governor Eric Holcomb says the State Department of Health has been working with the company and the county to test workers.
“It's a team effort,” said Governor Eric Holcomb during Monday’s press briefing. “Its not just me. It’s us. And this is a shout out to Mayor Spinner cause I’ve been in contact with him 2-3 times in 2-3 days. It’s not any one indicator, it’s a bigger equation.”
The latest numbers released today from the ISDH show 162 confirmed cases in Dubois County and two deaths.
Farbest's Huntingburg plant is at least the fourth Indiana meat or poultry processing plant that has faced outbreaks of COVID-19 among its workforce similar to others in the industry across the country.
The worst such outbreak in Indiana has been at a Tyson pork-processing plant in Logansport, which was closed for nearly two weeks and tests confirmed COVID-19 infections among nearly 900 of the plant's 2,200 employees, the company said. On Monday, State Health Commissioner Dr. Kris Box said most of the folks in Cass County are doing “very well.” Smaller outbreaks happened at Indiana Packers Corp. in Delphi and Miller Poultry in Orland.
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The Associated Press contributed to this story. This story has been updated.
