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Smithfield’s Sioux Falls pork plant partially reopens

Smithfield Foods pork processing plant in Sioux Falls is partially reopening today after being closed for more than two weeks.

According to local union officials, the plant has asked about 250 employees to report to work in two departments—ground pork and night cleanup. Smithfield has told employees who are sick, those over 60 and those who have existing health problems to stay home, according to the union.

The coronavirus has infected about 850 of the plant’s 31-hundred workers. The Sioux Falls Argus Leader reports that OSHA is looking into worker complaints that the plant operated under unsafe conditions.

The Sioux Falls plant is one of the largest pork processing facilities in the country and represents about more than four percent of U.S. pork production.