Expansion of new coronavirus infection 4:15 on April 25th after a series of facility closures at US meat dealers

In the United States, where new coronavirus infections continue to spread, processing facilities such as pork are being shut down one after another due to outbreaks of employees.
There is also a calculation that the pork processing capacity in the United States has decreased by 25%, and some say that the stable supply of meat may be threatened.

American meat giant "Tyson Foods" announced on September 22 that it will suspend the operation of its pork processing facility in Iowa indefinitely.

According to local media, approximately 180 employees at this facility were confirmed to be infected with the new coronavirus, and they decided to stop the operation to screen 2800 people entering and leaving the facility.

In the U.S., in addition to the fact that a major pork producer "Smithfield Foods" has a facility in Southwest Dakota in the Midwest, more than 700 employees were infected with a group of people and were forced to close. There are many cases of being closed for disinfection.

A labor union created by employees of the food processing industry said on the 23rd that 13 processing facilities were closed in the United States so far, resulting in a 25% decrease in meat processing capacity for pork and a 10% reduction for beef. In a statement, he said, "America's meat supply faces threats."

Also, because there is a shortage of supplies such as masks as the background of mass infections, the government is calling for measures to give priority to the workers who are engaged in jobs essential to daily life such as food production.

Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries person "Domestic supply is sufficient"

Japan imports more than 200,000 tons of beef and pork each year from the United States, making it one of the largest import partners in the meat sector.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries officials said, `` We recognize that closure is temporary, but that the new coronavirus infection spread to employees at the meat processing facility in the United States and the closure has continued. We are paying close attention to the possibility of further spread of infection.Since imports to Japan have not hindered so far and demand for the food service industry etc. has decreased due to the effect of the new coronavirus, there is not enough meat in Japan. In a situation where it disappears, there is no such thing. "