Warning – the Corona-outbreaks in US slaughterhouses were ignored in Germany

The Covid-19 outbreaks in the German meat processing have surprised state and County, only with great difficulties and delays have managed, for example, to make the apartments of the in the case of Tönnies employees to locate. In fact, it was a disaster foretold, which would far better prepare.

In the battle of the USA stations, the Same occurred exactly in March. The cases are well documented and it has been widely reported. In April, the New York Times published an extensive report that analysed the problems in summary. Teach in North Rhine-Westphalia, it is not drawn. The structures of the meat industry of the United States and Germany are similar.

Concentrated Large-Scale Enterprises

With farm idyll, and animal and humane attitude of both industries have nothing in common. The slaughterhouses are centralized mega-farms. In the case of beef is hardly more than 50 plants, up to 98 percent of the battle are in the whole of the United States responsible, the “NYT”. Germany boasted that nowhere else is so much meat is processed so cheap.

The working conditions in the meat cutting departments are similar. A lot of people work close to each other. It is a sweaty, exhausting work, and nobody can breathe. The rooms are cooled, which the breathing air can be enhanced to droplets condense. And so the risk of Infection increases sharply.

Better working conditions in the United States

In the United States, the slaughterhouses have been to the Hotspots of the pandemic, although the basic conditions are far better than in the low-wage country Germany. Most of the workers in the USA are unionized. The trade unions have operated a fixed Stand and a lot of influence in the battle. Unlike Amazon or in the big fruit and vegetable markets in the United States. The supervision by the management is considered to be very strict. Quite different than in Germany, where foreign posted workers were exploited. The USA don’t know in the wasteland, the Problem is that the workers will be housed in collective accommodation.

In the United States more than a dozen businesses had to close temporarily. In South Dakota is a factory for pork in Sioux Falls turned out to be the biggest “Hotspot” in the state, about 16 percent of the 3700 employees have tested positive for the Virus. Many of the employees were young and fighting fit, much like in the European Hotspot Ischgl, they had not noticed the infection at all.

Size alone is a Problem

At that time, you would also need to sit up and take notice in Germany. Because the outbreaks in the USA were not the result of criminal recklessness. The companies have taken all possible measures to prevent infection. They put a separator made of plexiglass, shared in protective clothing and masks. “But it is not easy for the workers to bring two feet apart,” said Dr. William Schaffner, Professor at Vanderbilt University. Many activities, such as the pulling Out of intestines and bowels, are associated with large movements of the body. The conveyor-like systems are not set up on larger distances and are not easy to change.

A further risk factor: The sheer size of the farms and the high number of employees per plant. “When you reach such a size, there is an increased risk,” said Ben Lilliston, head of the Institute for agriculture and trade policy in the United States, the “NYT. “If in a really large attachment, something goes wrong, you have a really big Problem. These are vulnerable systems.”

Source: NYT, Economist