New Iowa coronavirus cases surge by 389 as Waterloo officials call for close of Tyson plant

Propelled by urgent rounds of testing at Iowa meatpacking plants where the coronavirus has taken hold, the state Sunday reported a spike of 389 new COVID-19 cases — more than double the record daily tally of 191 reported last week.

The Governor’s Office said that 67 percent of the new cases — or 261 — could be attributed to new surveillance testing of meat processing facilities. That includes more than 500 completed tests of Tyson Food employees and more than 500 completed tests of National Beef employees, for a total of 84 positive and 177 positive respectively.

The state said last week it was sending thousands of test kits to the Tyson plants in Louisa County — where two employees have died from the disease — and Black Hawk County, and to the National Beef plant in Tama County.

The total number of confirmed cases in the state is now up to 2,902.

Read more: https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/government/new-iowa-coronavirus-cases-surge-by-389-20200419
(Cedar Rapids Gazette)