House Panel Investigating Meat Plant Deaths, Infection

A congressional panel is opening an investigation into widespread COVID-19 infections and deaths of U.S. meatpacking plant employees, saying that the Trump administration didn’t do nearly enough to protect workers.On Feb. 1, the chairman of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis sent letters to OSHA, Tyson Foods, Smithfield Foods and JBS USA informing them of the new investigation that follows reports of positive cases among nearly 54,000 workers at 569 meatpacking plants in the U.S. — and 270 resulting deaths.