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1. Brazilian Arts Institutions Remain Closed Despite President’s Call for Businesses to Reopen (Archive)
2. Coronavirus and the prostitution question — FiLiA (Archive)
Geoffrey's tweet: Source (Archive)
Tim Brooke-Taylor: Cleese, Fry and more pay tribute to comedy 'hero' (Archive)
1.U.S. Meat Supply Is 'Perilously Close' To A Shortage, CEO Warns (Archive)So an update from my part of the woods.
U.S. Meat Supply Is 'Perilously Close' To A Shortage, CEO Warns
A Smithfield Foods plant in South Dakota that produces 4% to 5% of the nation's pork supply has become the latest meat processing facility to shut down as COVID-19 sickens plant workers.www.npr.org
Smithfield coronavirus shutdown concerns shortage-wary meat industry
The American Association of Meat Processors expressed concern over the plant's closure.www.foxbusiness.com
(Just as an aside, Massie can shove it. Management intended to go back online until the cases linked to the plant started to grow immensely. Over a third of those tested from the plant tested positive. And they still haven't tested everyone.)
One of the largest pork processing facilities in the US is closing until further notice
One of the country's largest pork processing facilities is closing until further notice as employees fall ill with Covid-19. The closure puts the country's meat supply at risk, said the CEO of Smithfield, which operates the plant.www.cnn.com
I know it's three different articles, but I wanted to make sure I covered the gambit and so people won't call bullshit.
View attachment 1228387
The midwest is a really interesting area for pandemic data. With people isolated in rural communities, a population with a high amount of elderly individuals, and a general lack of healthcare resources, we're going to likely see some skyrocketing deaths after the fact, as people start analyzing the death certificates more closely. I think here in SD that the only 'certified' deaths are those of people who tested positive before death. The actual number is probably in the 30's or so now, simply because of lack of testing and how quickly an elderly patient can die from this. We're projected to hit the top of our curve sometime in June/August. Then there's our reservations, which are going to get pummeled to hell and back by this, and don't have the resources for testing.
Sioux Falls as the largest city in the area is getting hammered hard. Over half the cases in the state are in the city, and many of those are linked to the plant. It's not going to be pretty here; especially since the two week delay on when our cases really started to spike and the hospitalization is going to be rising. Right now Sioux Falls per capita rate of infection exceeds Chicago and Seattle. The mayor is begging for a shelter in place order from the governor - he's been pressing social distancing about as hard as you possibly can in a city full of people who don't understand what the big deal is because not many people are in the hospital so why should they care. And here I am, in the center of a brewing shitstorm, where cases could easily skyrocket to 20k... which is 10% of the city population.
One of the country's largest pork-producing plants closed indefinitely after nearly 300 of its employees tested positive for COVID-19. And the company's CEO warned that the coronavirus pandemic is pushing the nation's meat supply "perilously close" to the edge.
"It is impossible to keep our grocery stores stocked if our plants are not running," Smithfield Foods CEO Kenneth Sullivan said in a statement (archive).
Smithfield decided to close its plant in Sioux Falls, S.D., which provides 4% to 5% of the pork produced in the United States. The move came after South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem urged the company to "do more" to address the pandemic (archive).
"The closure of this facility, combined with a growing list of other protein plants that have shuttered across our industry, is pushing our country perilously close to the edge in terms of our meat supply," Sullivan said.
Smithfield is one of several meat-producing companies that have suspended or cut back on production (archive) in recent weeks.
JBS USA has closed a Souderton, Pa., beef plant until at least Thursday and has reduced production at a second facility in Greeley, Colo., because of high absenteeism among employees.
Cargill and Tyson Foods have also closed plants in Pennsylvania and Iowa.
Sullivan warned that the growing shutdowns are hurting the nation's meat supply in a way that is reaching throughout the U.S. economy.
"These facility closures will also have severe, perhaps disastrous, repercussions for many in the supply chain, first and foremost our nation's livestock farmers. These farmers have nowhere to send their animals," he wrote.
Because meat is perishable it must be kept in cold storage, making it difficult for stores to carry large amounts of inventory, says Krista Foster, who teaches supply chain management at the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business.
"Once the existing inventory is used up, consumers can expect to see smaller quantities of pork products in stores due to processing plant closures," Foster says.
No evidence exists that COVID-19 can be passed through food or food packaging, the Food and Drug Administration said last month (archive).
Top U.S. officials have moved to assure Americans that they won't lack for food (archive), despite the coronavirus. Vice President Pence, while touring a Walmart distribution center earlier this month, said that "America's food supply is strong."
"It is impossible to keep our grocery stores stocked if our plants are not running," Smithfield Foods CEO Kenneth Sullivan said in a statement (archive).
Smithfield decided to close its plant in Sioux Falls, S.D., which provides 4% to 5% of the pork produced in the United States. The move came after South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem urged the company to "do more" to address the pandemic (archive).
"The closure of this facility, combined with a growing list of other protein plants that have shuttered across our industry, is pushing our country perilously close to the edge in terms of our meat supply," Sullivan said.
Smithfield is one of several meat-producing companies that have suspended or cut back on production (archive) in recent weeks.
JBS USA has closed a Souderton, Pa., beef plant until at least Thursday and has reduced production at a second facility in Greeley, Colo., because of high absenteeism among employees.
Cargill and Tyson Foods have also closed plants in Pennsylvania and Iowa.
Sullivan warned that the growing shutdowns are hurting the nation's meat supply in a way that is reaching throughout the U.S. economy.
"These facility closures will also have severe, perhaps disastrous, repercussions for many in the supply chain, first and foremost our nation's livestock farmers. These farmers have nowhere to send their animals," he wrote.
Because meat is perishable it must be kept in cold storage, making it difficult for stores to carry large amounts of inventory, says Krista Foster, who teaches supply chain management at the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business.
"Once the existing inventory is used up, consumers can expect to see smaller quantities of pork products in stores due to processing plant closures," Foster says.
No evidence exists that COVID-19 can be passed through food or food packaging, the Food and Drug Administration said last month (archive).
Top U.S. officials have moved to assure Americans that they won't lack for food (archive), despite the coronavirus. Vice President Pence, while touring a Walmart distribution center earlier this month, said that "America's food supply is strong."
The closure (Archive) of a Smithfield Foods (Archive) plant in South Dakota, one of the largest pork processing plants in the U.S., after hundreds of employees tested positive for coronavirus (Archive) has the industry warning about another issue — a meat shortage.
“The closure of this facility, combined with a growing list of other protein plants that have shuttered across our industry, is pushing our country perilously close to the edge in terms of our meat supply," Smithfield CEO Kenneth Sullivan said in a statement Sunday.
The American Association of Meat Processors expressed concern over the Sioux Falls plant's closure, which came after pressure from South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken.
"Normally the closure of a plant would not have a huge impact on supply, but the demand on meat and poultry during this pandemic has been vast," AAMP Executive Director Chris Young told FOX Business. "There is a concern that more companies could end up in the same situation as Smithfield. ... Many companies are screening employees and others who enter their plants on a daily basis, as well as trying to follow CDC guidelines for social distancing when they can."
The Smithfield pork processing plant in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Wednesday, April 8, 2020, where health officials reported more than 80 employees have confirmed cases of the coronavirus (AP Photo/Stephen Groves)
The plant, which employs about 3,700 people in the state's largest city, has become a hot spot for infections. Health officials said Sunday that 293 of the 730 people who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in South Dakota work at the plant.
Smithfield announced a three-day closure (Archive) last week so it could sanitize the plant and install physical barriers to enhance social distancing. But on Sunday, it announced the plant's indefinite closure. It will resume operations in Sioux Falls after receiving further directions from local, state and federal officials.
"My commitment would be I would love to get them open as soon as possible … as soon as their employee base feels safe," TenHaken told FOX Business. "I’ve talked all along that when you fix one problem in COVID response, you create three or four more."
"A lot of industries are experiencing this level of disruption right now. ... Could it hurt the availability of pork to the consumer? Absolutely. Is this a forever shutdown? No," he said.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., reacted to news of the closure on Twitter on Monday.
"I’ve been warning about this for weeks now. The people throttling our economy have no idea how brittle the food supply chain is... and they have broken it," Massie wrote (Tweet archive | Reuters linked article archive) .
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said in March that the coronavirus pandemic is having "very little" (Archive) impact on U.S. food supply on "Mornings with Maria" (Archive) .
"USDA, together with the FDA and CDC, will continue to support a whole of America approach to ensure the food supply chain remains safe and secure," a USDA spokesperson told FOX Business on Monday.
“The closure of this facility, combined with a growing list of other protein plants that have shuttered across our industry, is pushing our country perilously close to the edge in terms of our meat supply," Smithfield CEO Kenneth Sullivan said in a statement Sunday.
The American Association of Meat Processors expressed concern over the Sioux Falls plant's closure, which came after pressure from South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken.
"Normally the closure of a plant would not have a huge impact on supply, but the demand on meat and poultry during this pandemic has been vast," AAMP Executive Director Chris Young told FOX Business. "There is a concern that more companies could end up in the same situation as Smithfield. ... Many companies are screening employees and others who enter their plants on a daily basis, as well as trying to follow CDC guidelines for social distancing when they can."
The Smithfield pork processing plant in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Wednesday, April 8, 2020, where health officials reported more than 80 employees have confirmed cases of the coronavirus (AP Photo/Stephen Groves)
The plant, which employs about 3,700 people in the state's largest city, has become a hot spot for infections. Health officials said Sunday that 293 of the 730 people who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in South Dakota work at the plant.
Smithfield announced a three-day closure (Archive) last week so it could sanitize the plant and install physical barriers to enhance social distancing. But on Sunday, it announced the plant's indefinite closure. It will resume operations in Sioux Falls after receiving further directions from local, state and federal officials.
"My commitment would be I would love to get them open as soon as possible … as soon as their employee base feels safe," TenHaken told FOX Business. "I’ve talked all along that when you fix one problem in COVID response, you create three or four more."
"A lot of industries are experiencing this level of disruption right now. ... Could it hurt the availability of pork to the consumer? Absolutely. Is this a forever shutdown? No," he said.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., reacted to news of the closure on Twitter on Monday.
"I’ve been warning about this for weeks now. The people throttling our economy have no idea how brittle the food supply chain is... and they have broken it," Massie wrote (Tweet archive | Reuters linked article archive) .
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said in March that the coronavirus pandemic is having "very little" (Archive) impact on U.S. food supply on "Mornings with Maria" (Archive) .
"USDA, together with the FDA and CDC, will continue to support a whole of America approach to ensure the food supply chain remains safe and secure," a USDA spokesperson told FOX Business on Monday.
New York (CNN Business)One of the country's largest pork processing facilities is closing until further notice as employees fall ill with Covid-19 (Archive). The closure puts the country's meat supply at risk, said the CEO of Smithfield, which operates the plant."The closure of this facility, combined with a growing list of other protein plants that have shuttered across our industry, is pushing our country perilously close to the edge in terms of our meat supply," the meat processor's chief executive, Kenneth Sullivan, said in a statement Sunday.
"It is impossible to keep our grocery stores stocked if our plants are not running," he said. "These facility closures will also have severe, perhaps disastrous, repercussions for many in the supply chain."
The Smithfield pork processing plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
The Sioux Falls, South Dakota, facility accounts for 4% to 5% of the country's pork production and employs about 3,700 people, according to Smithfield.South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said during a Saturday news briefing (Video archive) that Smithfield employees accounted for more than half of the active coronavirus cases in the state. About 240 employees are sick, she said, out of roughly 430 active cases in the state. Because of that, she and the mayor of Sioux Falls recommended that Smithfield suspend operations for at least two weeks.
The problem extends beyond South Dakota. Meat processors in Iowa and Pennsylvania have also shut their doors because of sick employees (Archive).
Smithfield will maintain some activity in the plant on Tuesday to process its inventory, the company said, as it prepares to fully shut down, adding that it will compensate employees for the next two weeks.
"It is impossible to keep our grocery stores stocked if our plants are not running," he said. "These facility closures will also have severe, perhaps disastrous, repercussions for many in the supply chain."
The Smithfield pork processing plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
The Sioux Falls, South Dakota, facility accounts for 4% to 5% of the country's pork production and employs about 3,700 people, according to Smithfield.South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said during a Saturday news briefing (Video archive) that Smithfield employees accounted for more than half of the active coronavirus cases in the state. About 240 employees are sick, she said, out of roughly 430 active cases in the state. Because of that, she and the mayor of Sioux Falls recommended that Smithfield suspend operations for at least two weeks.
The problem extends beyond South Dakota. Meat processors in Iowa and Pennsylvania have also shut their doors because of sick employees (Archive).
Smithfield will maintain some activity in the plant on Tuesday to process its inventory, the company said, as it prepares to fully shut down, adding that it will compensate employees for the next two weeks.
Smithfield Foods (Archive)
New executive order will target Minnehaha & Lincoln Counties (Archive)We're probably good on food in the US - we're a net exporter of food as well, so we're going to be fine on that end.
Also another update (bolding mine)
New executive order will target Minnehaha & Lincoln Counties
South Dakota is at a “critical juncture” in slowing the spread of COVID-19.www.keloland.com
Those over 65 and with chronic medical aren't the ones who are going to spread it. It's everyone else, so this shall shelter issue is fucking nothing. At least the schools are going to remain closed - that's a massive infection vector right there.
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