IDPH graphic.
Black Hawk County officials say more than a thousand employees at the Tyson plant in Waterloo have tested positive for the coronavirus. That’s more than double the number released by state officials earlier this week.
Joshua Pikora with the county public health department says the state-related total of 444 employees only included testing that was done onsite at the plant.
“The 1031 reported cases includes those positive results from the onsite testing, positive test results from local healthcare providers here in Black Hawk County, as well as the positive serology tests that give us the complete picture of scope of illness in our county,” he says.
Pikora says those cases do not include family members or roommates who may also have tested positive. As of Thursday, the county had 1703 confirmed cases. Tyson’s pork plant in Waterloo resumed limited operations at the plant yesterday. More than 2800 usually work in the facility.
(By Iowa Public Radio’s Kate Payne)