Tyson Foods idling its largest pork plant amid Iowa outbreak

Tyson Foods is suspending operations indefinitely at a large Iowa pork processing plant linked to a growing coronavirus outbreak.

The company warned Wednesday that its closing of the Waterloo, Iowa, plant would be a blow to hog farmers and potentially disrupt the nation’s pork supply.

Tyson had kept the plant open in recent days over the objections of the mayor and other local officials.

The plant employs nearly 3,000 workers and can process about 19,500 hogs per day, about 4% of the U.S. pork processing capacity.

The announcement comes as employers have struggled to contain the virus in large meatpacking plants. Several other packing plants have temporarily closed.

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