Tyson Foods has decided to temporarily halt operations at its pork processing plant in Storm Lake.

The company indicated the closure is due, in part, to a delay in COVID-19 testing results and team member absences related to quarantine and other factors. Tyson will idle harvesting animals and finish processing over the next two days. Additional deep cleaning and sanitizing of the entire facility will be conducted before resuming operations later next week.

State officials confirmed a COVID-19 outbreak was confirmed at the Storm Lake Tyson pork plant on Thursday.

(By Ryan Thompson, KAYL, Storm Lake)