Portion of JBS meatpacking plant in Worthington to reopen Wednesday

Part of a meatpacking plant in Worthington, Minn. that was temporarily shuttered due to a COVID-19 outbreak is set to reopen Wednesday.

JBS plans to open the kill section of its plant, according to a press release from the company.

The plant

due to a COVID-19 outbreak that sickened hundreds of workers.

The company says it has begun reopening following

classifying meat processing as critical infrastructure.

KSTP-TV reports the union president at the plant says JBS has been working to enhance safety guidelines, including providing PPE, changing operations to promote social distancing, and deep cleaning the facility every day.

JBS only plans on opening the kill section of the plant for now, giving pork producers an option for hogs. Some farmers have begun euthanizing pigs because they have no processing options. The company says they will be able to process about 13,000 hogs per day, and no more than 30 employees will be working at a time.

Nobles County had over 1,000 cases of COVID-19 as of Tuesday, according to the Minnesota Department of Health, making it one of the state's largest hot spots. Many of those cases are tied to the JBS plant.