MONDAY 5/4/2020 3:01 p.m.
GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – After being closed for over a week JBS in Green Bay will partially reopen on Tuesday.
JBS officials say the plan is to reopen harvest operations with reduced staff on Tuesday and harvest and fabrication on Wednesday.
All employees will be tested before returning to work, according to JBS.
“We expect operations to normalize over time as absenteeism rates decline in response to the preventive measures in place at the facility and as team members clear any necessary quarantine protocols.”
As of Friday, Brown County Public Health stated nearly 300 JBS employees had tested positive for the virus while over 50 household members of JBS employees had also tested positive.
Last Tuesday, President Donald Trump took executive action to order meat processing plants to stay open amid concerns over growing coronavirus cases and the impact on the nation’s food supply.
As of Monday morning, Brown County has over 1,400 confirmed cases of coronavirus and six virus-related deaths.
JBS facility in Green Bay temporarily closes to slow spread of coronavirus
SUNDAY 4/26/2020 7:42 p.m.
GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – JBS USA announced on April 26 the temporary closure of its Green Bay beef production facility to help slow the community spread of COVID-19.
You can read JBS USA’s full statement by clicking here.
JBS USA says as they remain in partnership and consultation with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and the Brown County Health and Human Services Department, the company will advise its Green Bay team members to follow Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers’ ‘Safer at Home Order’ while the plant is closed.
JBS USA has stated that it will continue to pay Green Bay’s JBS employees during the plant closure.
The JBS organization says that it is striving to provide the safest working environment possible for its team members who are providing food for the nation during these unprecedented times.
Related: JBS Beef facility reducing production due to COVID-19
President of the JBS USA Regional Beef, Shannon Grassl says, “As an essential business providing necessary supplies and services for Wisconsin, we have endeavored to maintain operations to ensure continued access to safe, affordable food.”
Grassl continues, “Given the continued spread of coronavirus in our community and among our workforce, we have decided to voluntarily close our Green Bay facility in an effort to help flatten the curve of infections in Brown County. We’ve been focused on doing everything we can to keep the virus out of our facility, but we believe a temporary closure is the most aggressive action we can take to help our community collectively slow the spread of COVID-19.”
Original Story: JBS Green Bay remains operational with ‘enhanced safety measures’ during coronavirus pandemic
THURSDAY 4/16/2020
JBS Green Bay says it remains open and operating with “enhanced safety measures” during the coronavirus pandemic.
WFRV Local 5 reached out to JBS Green Bay after reports surfaced that employees had tested positive for the coronavirus.
JBS Green Bay tells WFRV Local 5, “We have had team members test positive for COVID-19 in some of our U.S. facilities. We are offering support to those team members and their families, and we hope they all make a full and speedy recovery. Out of respect for the privacy of the families, we are not releasing further information.”
The beef production facility says it remains open because, “As a food company, we recognize and embrace the important role we play in making sure people have access to safe, quality food as we collectively face the coronavirus challenge.”
Officials with JBS say they have implemented several enhanced safety measures at its U.S. facilities, including:
- Increasing sanitation and disinfection efforts, including whole facility deep-cleaning every day
- Promoting physical distancing by staggering starts, shifts and breaks, and increasing spacing in cafeterias, break and locker rooms, including plexiglass dividers in key areas
- Dedicating staff to continuously clean facilities
- Temperature testing all team members prior to entering our facilities, including the use of hands-free thermometers and thermal imaging testing technology in many locations
- Providing extra personal protective equipment (PPE), including protective masks to all team members that are required to be worn at all times
- Removing vulnerable populations from our facilities, offering full pay and benefits
- Requiring sick team members to stay home from work
- Waiving short-term disability waiting periods
- Relaxing attendance policies so people don’t come to work sick
- Providing free 100% preventative care to all team members
- Offering free LiveHealth Online services that allow for virtual doctor visits at no cost
JBS Green Bay tells WFRV Local 5, “We are committed to playing our part in seeing our communities and our nation through this challenging time.”
For more information from JBS, visit their website.
