Meat Plant Virus Rates Topping 50% Are Behind Grocery Shortages
- Wholesale beef and pork prices have surged more than 20%
- It’s been a week since Trump’s order to keep plants running
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More than half of workers at some American meat plants tested positive for coronavirus. Employees are still out sick, keeping production slow even as some facilities reopen, and grocers from Kroger Co. to Costco Wholesale Corp. are rationing supplies. Even Wendy’s Co. dropped burgers from some menus.
Prices for wholesale beef and pork have jumped more than 20% since President Donald Trump’s historic executive order to keep plants running during the pandemic. The supply shortfalls and soaring prices underscore the challenges of quickly fixing America’s broken meat supply chain.