Coronavirus: 100 Cases Traced To North Kingstown's Taylor Farms

NORTH KINGSTOWN, RI — One of the state's hot spots of new coronavirus positive tests has been traced back to North Kingstown. The Rhode Island Department of Health has confirmed to news outlets that 100 cases of COVID-19 has been connected to Taylor Farms, a food processing plant in town.

The RI DOH said in a statement that the plant has taken steps to help curb the spread of the virus within the plant through temperature checks and enhanced symptom screening, as well as the insistence that any employee who either tests positive, or is experiencing symptoms, must stay away from the plant.

"In our Rhode Island operation, we have several employees who have tested positive for COVID-19 and those individuals are currently in self quarantine or under medical care," Taylor Farms said in a statement to ABC-TV. "All employees who recently came in contact with those individuals have been asked to contact their company funded healthcare providers and are home on paid sick leave. Taylor Farms has been working closely with the Rhode Island Department of Health and the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation for the past two weeks and will continue to monitor the situation carefully."

As of Wednesday, the RI DOH reported 88 positive cases of coronavirus in North Kingstown out of 5,500 statewide. Cases are determined by the residence of the person testing positive — meaning someone who works at Taylor Farms, but lives in another community, would not be reflected in North Kingstown's total.

"Taylor Farms is focused and committed to the health and well-being of our team members," Taylor Farms' statement continued. "On March 15th, the company initiated significant enhancements to our operating protocols to mitigate the COVID-19 risk to our team. We implemented extended paid sick leave so team members would stay home if they thought they were ill. We educated all employees on the importance of vigilance, working in smaller groups, social separation and personal and job site sanitation.

"We added sanitation personnel to continuously clean common areas in all of our plants. On March 24, Taylor Farms announced the additional requirements of taking employee temperatures prior to entering our facilities, and all of our employees wearing masks. We have implemented these requirements as thermometers and masks have become available."

Outbreaks at meat-packing plants has been a concern nationwide. Tyson Foods suspended operations Wednesday at an Iowa plant that is critical to the nation's pork supply, but was blamed for fueling a coronavirus outbreak in the community.The Arkansas-based company said the closure of the plant in Waterloo would deny a vital market to hog farmers and further disrupt U.S. meat supply.

Tyson had kept the facility, its largest pork plant, open in recent days over the objections of alarmed local officials.

Several other facilities have temporarily closed due to virus outbreaks, including a Smithfield Foods plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and a JBS USA plant in Worthington, Minnesota. Others have stayed open or resumed production after pauses for worker testing and cleaning.

Associated Press material was used in this report.

Coronavirus in Rhode Island: Latest headlines

• Coronavirus In RI: 'Age Restrictions' Could Be Part Of New Normal
• Coronavirus In RI: 365 New Cases; 10 Deaths
• Coronavirus: URI Drive-Thru Test Site To Close
• Coronavirus: When Will RI Relax Social Distancing Measures?
• RI Coronavirus: Free Housing Available For Front-Line Workers
• RI Named One Of The Worst States To Work From Home: Coronavirus
• McDonald's Offers Free Meals To RI Coronavirus Front Line Workers
• Coronavirus: 1 in 100 Show Symptoms In Providence County