Brazil, the world’s biggest beef and chicken exporter and the fourth-largest pork exporter, is now struggling with coronavirus in its meatpacking industry. Over 25 percent of the confirmed coronavirus cases in Brazil’s state of Rio Grande do Sul are among workers in meat plants.
Meatpackers in the state employ 50,000 people. A statement from Brazil’s labor prosecutor says an estimated 2,399 employees from 24 slaughterhouses in 18 municipalities of the state are now confirmed. That’s a total of 25.7 percent of the 9,332 cases of confirmed coronavirus.
Reuters says the findings corroborate the evidence that meatpackers have become hotspots in Brazil for the coronavirus. Brazil has more than half-a-million cases and nearly 30,000 deaths. Two of Brazil’s largest meatpackers own plants in Rio Grande do Sul and both of them had to temporarily close their units due to outbreaks of coronavirus.
Around Brazil, the average number of workers per plant is approximately 2,000. Brazil’s agriculture ministry says the country has 446 meat plants, including 194 beef, 148 poultry, 90 pork plants, and 14 that process other types of meats.
