U.S. Meat Industry Workers Are Getting Sick at Higher-Than-Normal Rates. Here’s What That Means for Your Meal Planning
You may notice on your next grocery run that the meat aisle looks a little more barren than usual. Get used to it, writes TIME reporter Tara Law.
COVID-19 hit America’s meat industry hard. The close-quartered workspaces of meat-processing plants have proved unfortunately good breeding grounds for the virus. Almost 5,000 meat-packing workers have gotten sick with COVID-19 and 20 have died, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported today. Despite an April 28 executive order from President Donald Trump meant to keep processing plants open, production will slow if employees get sick or decide not to come to work due to safety fears. Major suppliers like Tyson have already had to halt production due to coronavirus concerns.
As a result, for at least the next few weeks, and potentially as long as a year, U.S. grocery stores are likely to have a narrower variety of meats available, and a smaller supply overall. To make matters worse, the meat still on store shelves is likely to cost more than usual due to plummeting supply. Popular proteins like ground beef and bacon are the most likely to go up in price, agricultural economics professor Glynn Tonsor told Law, as are those that take more work to produce, like pre-flavored goods. Lesser-used cuts are unlikely to get much pricier, Tonsor says, so this is a great time to try something new. Perhaps tongue?
Meat shortages are as much a symbolic struggle for Americans as they are a nutritional one, Law writes. Red meat is a staple of the American diet, and its absence will strike a chord. But, on the bright side, there have never been more alternatives to animal proteins, from beans and tofu to high-tech meat alternatives. An added bonus, Law writes, is that beans and tofu tend to be much cheaper than meat to begin with.
More than 3.2 million people around the world had been sickened by COVID-19 as of 8 PM eastern time yesterday, and more than 230,000 had died.
Here is every country with over 30,000 confirmed cases:
So far, South Korea has pulled off the seemingly impossible: keeping its number of coronavirus cases fairly low, without instituting any major lockdowns. In an interview with TIME, the country’s health and welfare minister Park Neung-hoo explains how robust testing and contact tracing have made it possible.
Cases in Australia also continue to decline, prompting leaders to discuss easing containment measures there. News out of the country isn’t all good, though. China warned that it could hit Australia with trade repercussions after it called for an independent investigation into the coronavirus’ origins.
President Donald Trump yesterday claimed to have seen evidence that gives him “a high degree of confidence” the virus that causes COVID-19 originated in a Chinese lab. Just hours before Trump made his comments, officials from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said no such investigation has been completed.
In the U.K., where COVID-19 response has been touch-and-go, doctors warned in a letter that 250 emergency ventilators purchased from China may harm or even kill patients.
The Situation in the United States
The total number of COVID-19 diagnoses in the U.S. rose to nearly 1,070,000 as of 8 PM eastern time yesterday, and the death toll approached 63,000.
The first of the month—rent day—is a painful reminder of financial stress for the millions of Americans who are out of work. A historic number of people have filed for unemployment already, and the nation’s economy will likely fall even further as spring continues.
Unrest is rippling across the country, as private citizens and lawmakers alike chafe against lockdown orders. In Michigan, conservative protesters—some legally armed—gathered at the Capitol building to protest Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s decision to extend the state’s emergency declaration by another 28 days after it expired last night. (She also extended stay-at-home orders until May 15, while allowing some businesses to slowly begin reopening while following social-distancing rules.) The state’s Republican-led House also voted in favor of a lawsuit that would challenge Whitmer’s authority to issue emergency actions.
In California, two Orange County beach cities are trying to reverse Governor Gavin Newsom’s order to temporarily close all area beaches, and officials from sparsely populated Modoc County say they plan to allow bars, restaurants and other businesses to reopen despite the statewide stay-at-home order. In Louisiana , Baton Rouge-area law enforcement officials are at a standoff with a local pastor who continues to hold large, in-person church services even after being arrested for violating the state’s stay-at-home orders.
Other parts of the country are continuing with strict containment measures. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced yesterday that New York City’s famously 24/7 subway system will shut down each night between 1 AM and 5 AM to give cleaning crews more time to disinfect train cars. Schools statewide will also remain closed for the rest of the school year, Cuomo announced today.
And in Massachusetts, families of the 70 veterans who died from coronavirus at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home continue to grieve and dig for more information about what led to the country’s largest outbreak at a long-term care facility.
All numbers are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of April 30, 8 PM eastern time. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
Goldman Sachs' new video series featuring insights on the implications of COVID-19 across markets, industries and the global economy.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
Are You Experiencing ‘Caution Fatigue’? Here’s How to Fight It
As lockdowns drag on and weeks of stress, isolation and boredom take their toll, many Americans aren’t following social-distancing guidelines as closely as they once were. Psychologist Jacqueline Gollan explains how to combat this “caution fatigue.” Read more here.
Three Days in a Detroit Funeral Home
Stephen Kemp is used to getting calls from one or two new clients per day at his Detroit funeral home. Due to coronavirus, that number has at least doubled—and he’s struggling to keep up with demand. Read more here.
Coronavirus Is Swaying U.S. Voters
TIME political correspondents Charlotte Alter and Tessa Berenson spoke to several American voters who supported President Trump in 2016, but will be pulling their votes this year due to his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more here.
What If This Virus Can Teach Us to Change Ourselves?
In an essay for TIME, novelist Colum McCann offers his hope for America: that coronavirus pushes us to grow and change. “What if this virus, which makes us tiny and epic both,” he writes, “can teach us a little about holding contradictory ideas once again?” Read more here.
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan Is Taking Charge in a Crisis
America’s governors are in the spotlight during the pandemic, left to make huge decisions like how and when to reopen their states. Maryland’s Larry Hogan is up to the challenge. Read more here.
Why Is Coronavirus Striking Men Harder Than Women?
There are clear sex-related differences in COVID-19 outcomes—but understanding them isn’t easy. Read more here.
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