Forgot Password
Pentax Camera Forums Home
 

Closed Thread
Show Printable Version Search this Thread
05-12-2020, 09:34 PM   #3496
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
mroeder75's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Iowa
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 1,584
I live in Iowa, where we have a crisis. Iowa is the leading hog producer in the U.S.A. Iowa's population is 22 million pigs; 3 million people. People like me rarely see a pig now; they are grown in confinement buildings.

We have had COVID-19 outbreaks at several meat packing plants, which has resulted in the closure of several plants, and decreased production once they have reopened due at least in part to lack of healthy workers. Since we have an international group here, I would like to know if this is unique to the United States and the way we process meat here? Outside the U.S.A. are you seeing meat packing facilities closed down due to COVID-19?

Farmers here are about to start euthanizing pigs as they have no place for them to go; new piglets are arriving; confinement buildings are big, but are always crammed full. Plant closures are affecting meat supplies in the United States, and indeed in the world since there is an export market for Iowa's frozen pork. Many grocers are limiting meat purchases. I knew early on what was happening since it's happening here, and stocked up, but maybe I didn't need to.

One good thing about this rural county is we have a large meat locker just 15-miles north. It is almost the size of a small meat packing plant. I think they process differently - not so many workers in close quarters. High quality meats are produced at the Edgewood Locker. Area farmers are looking for alternative places to take a few pigs such as the local locker plant as they have no where else to go. Their meat is distributed and sold locally, not regionally or internationally. Our local supply of pork and beef is great ; maybe better than before.

05-12-2020, 10:00 PM - 1 Like   #3497
Pentaxian




Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: Mohave county Arizona
Photos: Albums
Posts: 1,076
QuoteOriginally posted by noelpolar Quote
Thanks... ironically enough.... my wife and I just spent all night with one of our dogs, who passed at 7am this morning. I don't do dog deaths well.... it is easy to be all analytical about things until they touch home. My mind, probally like yours.... given our countries are in a similar position coronavirus wise.... is just how we move forward from here.... everything in life is a balancing act for the mindful.
Sorry to hear about your dog. It's never easy.
05-12-2020, 10:06 PM   #3498
Moderator
Site Supporter
Loyal Site Supporter
Sandy Hancock's Avatar

Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Adelaide Hills, South Australia
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 11,254
QuoteQuote:
Outside the U.S.A. are you seeing meat packing facilities closed down due to COVID-19?
Read more at: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/14-general-talk/404129-coronavirus-234.html#ixzz6MINqUIVv
Australia's biggest current cluster of CoViD-19 cases originated from a meat processing plant just out of Melbourne. So no, it's not just the USA.
05-12-2020, 10:23 PM   #3499
Pentaxian
timb64's Avatar

Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: /Situation : Doing my best to avoid idiots!
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 9,506
QuoteOriginally posted by Sandy Hancock Quote
Read more at: Coronavirus - Page 234 - PentaxForums.com
Australia's biggest current cluster of CoViD-19 cases originated from a meat processing plant just out of Melbourne. So no, it's not just the USA.
In the UK I don't recall seeing any news reports about specific problems for workers at meat processing plants.

05-12-2020, 10:30 PM   #3500
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
mroeder75's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Iowa
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 1,584
QuoteOriginally posted by Sandy Hancock Quote
Read more at: Coronavirus - Page 234 - PentaxForums.com
Australia's biggest current cluster of CoViD-19 cases originated from a meat processing plant just out of Melbourne. So no, it's not just the USA.
At least 4-dead at the Waterloo, Iowa Tyson pork plant. Over 1,000 workers infected. It is a tragedy. Just 45 miles west of me. Tyson Worker Dies After COVID-19 Outbreak at Iowa Plant | whotv.com
05-12-2020, 10:30 PM   #3501
GUB
Loyal Site Supporter
Loyal Site Supporter
GUB's Avatar

Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Wanganui
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 5,735
QuoteOriginally posted by timb64 Quote
In the UK I don't recall seeing any news reports about specific problems for workers at meat processing plants.
Here in NZ the meat processing industry was seen as essential so kept going but they kept the workers at 2 metres spacing and accordingly processing dropped to 30% of optimum. But the covid challenge was never out there anyway. I think a more pertinent question is did the US have trouble with any other close quarter essential industries?
05-12-2020, 10:39 PM   #3502
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
mroeder75's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Iowa
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 1,584
QuoteOriginally posted by timb64 Quote
In the UK I don't recall seeing any news reports about specific problems for workers at meat processing plants.
Thank you for your report. Maybe meat is processed differently in other parts of the world. In the UK you certainly, at least in London, have had COVID-19 issues, even at 10 Downing St.

In Iowa we have always processed meat efficiently. But since the 1980s these large companies have done more to decrease wages and increase line speeds, and the cost on the human body has been high, but now in a pandemic, even higher.

A pork producer who sold his farm told me a week ago he raised pigs. He didn't kill pigs. He once toured a pork processing plant and told me he anticipated they would have problems with COVID-19. He previously told me he thought our county would be spared, because it is rural, and it has been. He just could not imagine killing the pigs he raised. An interesting juxtaposition as he sold thousands to processing plants. I like bacon, and pork. Maybe I would think differently if I toured a killing floor.

---------- Post added 05-13-20 at 01:07 AM ----------

QuoteOriginally posted by GUB Quote
Here in NZ the meat processing industry was seen as essential so kept going but they kept the workers at 2 metres spacing and accordingly processing dropped to 30% of optimum. But the covid challenge was never out there anyway. I think a more pertinent question is did the US have trouble with any other close quarter essential industries?
Yes . . . health care workers, and grocery stores workers to a limited degree.

This is Dr. Larry Brilliant in 2006 a few years before the pandemic, and the most relevant production I have seen to predicting our current predicament. Larry Brilliant: TED Prize wish: Help stop the next pandemic - YouTube Early testing and isolating those who test positive stops spread. Otherwise you are like the U.S.A. where we have over 82,000 deaths. We had no early detection / early response and isolate. We screwed up. Now we have limits to our ability to stop its spread to vulnerable populations.

I think my secretary may have had it mid-March before St. Patrick's Day. She had a respiratory illness and tested negative to strep; negative to influenza. She didn't qualify for a COVID-19 test, because she had no foreign travel, and no exposure to a known COVID-19 confirmed person (there were 21 in Iowa at that time), and wasn't hospitalized with a respiratory problem.

Lack of early testing is a big factor in why the U.S.A. is the leading country in COVID-19 deaths in the U.S.A., Also, NYC and Iowa closed schools the same day. NYC didn't want to close schools because of the impact that would have on working people whose children had no other child care. Another big mistake. Perhaps there is another country that doesn't accurately report #s, and if they did well maybe the U.S.A. would be 2nd.

Mine is a one horse office - me and her. She came in here one day to try to work with a deep cough, saying she couldn't afford to not work. But I offer benefits. She forgot. I let her stay an hour or so to clear the dictation and wiped everything down with rubbing alcohol when she left. She called later and said you were right - she was really sick - and symptoms changed from day-to-day. She was out a full week and toward the end - migraine headaches. It is a tough disease. You don't want it.

05-12-2020, 11:08 PM   #3503
Pentaxian
timb64's Avatar

Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: /Situation : Doing my best to avoid idiots!
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 9,506
QuoteOriginally posted by mroeder75 Quote
Thank you for your report. Maybe meat is processed differently in other parts of the world. In the UK you certainly, at least in London, have had COVID-19 issues, even at 10 Downing St.
With 40,000+ deaths attributed to the virus we certainly have.Apart from the obvious health care workers the most affected sector of the workforce appears to be those in direct contact with the general public and especially public transport and security staff.More worrying is that it appears to have a disproportionate affect on those of BAME background,an aspect the Government is investigating.
05-12-2020, 11:13 PM   #3504
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
mroeder75's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Iowa
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 1,584
QuoteOriginally posted by timb64 Quote
With 40,000+ deaths attributed to the virus we certainly have.Apart from the obvious health care workers the most affected sector of the workforce appears to be those in direct contact with the general public and especially public transport and security staff.More worrying is that it appears to have a disproportionate affect on those of BAME background,an aspect the Government is investigating.
What is BAME background?
05-13-2020, 12:23 AM - 1 Like   #3505
GUB
Loyal Site Supporter
Loyal Site Supporter
GUB's Avatar

Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Wanganui
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 5,735
QuoteOriginally posted by mroeder75 Quote
Lack of early testing is a big factor in why the U.S.A. is the leading country in COVID-19 deaths in the U.S.A.,
Can you clarify what you mean here - I think you stuffed up the grammar
From what I can see the US is doing fine on a world stage. Look at the deaths per million column

Coronavirus Update (Live): 4,344,215 Cases and 292,937 Deaths from COVID-19 Virus Pandemic - Worldometer
05-13-2020, 12:57 AM - 2 Likes   #3506
Moderator
Site Supporter
Loyal Site Supporter
Sandy Hancock's Avatar

Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Adelaide Hills, South Australia
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 11,254
QuoteOriginally posted by GUB Quote
From what I can see the US is doing fine on a world stage. Look at the deaths per million column
You're kidding, aren't you?

Twice Canada
2.5 x Germany
60 x Australia

Of the *real* countries (let's ignore micro-states like San Marino, Andorra, Sint Maarten and the Isle of Man), the USA is 9th worst in the world. Being better than a handful of complete disasters is a long way from "doing fine". This is not a popularity contest where you get participation medals - we're talking about people dying.

Last edited by Sandy Hancock; 05-13-2020 at 01:03 AM.
05-13-2020, 01:43 AM   #3507
Pentaxian
timb64's Avatar

Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: /Situation : Doing my best to avoid idiots!
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 9,506
QuoteOriginally posted by noelpolar Quote
.....black and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds..... 0.22s on google....

Why are people from BAME groups dying disproportionately of Covid-19? | World news | The Guardian
Black,Asian and Minoriy Ethnic but you got the picture!
05-13-2020, 01:45 AM - 1 Like   #3508
GUB
Loyal Site Supporter
Loyal Site Supporter
GUB's Avatar

Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Wanganui
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 5,735
QuoteOriginally posted by Sandy Hancock Quote
You're kidding, aren't you?

Twice Canada
2.5 x Germany
60 x Australia

Of the *real* countries (let's ignore micro-states like San Marino, Andorra, Sint Maarten and the Isle of Man), the USA is 9th worst in the world. Being better than a handful of complete disasters is a long way from "doing fine". This is not a popularity contest where you get participation medals - we're talking about people dying.
If you look you will see I was responding to what I presume was - "why the U.S.A. is the leading country for COVID-19 deaths in the World". Which, if that was what mroeder intended, is simply not true. It is you that has just presented it as a competition.
The US has been hammered in the metropolitan areas just other such areas in the world and the lighter populated areas has been spared the worst just like other areas in the world.




05-13-2020, 02:04 AM - 2 Likes   #3509
Moderator
Site Supporter
Loyal Site Supporter
Sandy Hancock's Avatar

Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Adelaide Hills, South Australia
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 11,254
QuoteOriginally posted by GUB Quote
If you look you will see I was responding to what I presume was - "why the U.S.A. is the leading country for COVID-19 deaths in the World". Which, if that was what mroeder intended, is simply not true.
Lies, damn lies, and statistics. What mroeder stated was true in absolute terms. You may find the slightly more flattering deaths per million metric more comforting, but it still isn't "doing fine".

Meanwhile, in Australia, one single new death today is news - it's the first for over a week. We actually are "doing fine".
05-13-2020, 02:54 AM - 1 Like   #3510
GUB
Loyal Site Supporter
Loyal Site Supporter
GUB's Avatar

Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Wanganui
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 5,735
QuoteOriginally posted by Sandy Hancock Quote
Lies, damn lies, and statistics. What mroeder stated was true in absolute terms. You may find the slightly more flattering deaths per million metric more comforting, but it still isn't "doing fine".

Meanwhile, in Australia, one single new death today is news - it's the first for over a week. We actually are "doing fine".
So you are saying expressing it in deaths per million is "lies, damn lies, and statistics"?
Closed Thread

Bookmarks
  • Submit Thread to Facebook Facebook
  • Submit Thread to Twitter Twitter
  • Submit Thread to Digg Digg
Tags - Make this thread easier to find by adding keywords to it!
attention, biscuits, china, concern, consequences, coronavirus, countries, cure, danger, days, disease, food, health, house, hurricane, information, level, list, lot, lowell, month, months, people, prejudice, sense, stop, store, time, trips, water, web page
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
CIPA Jan 2020: pre-coronavirus and already really bad beholder3 Photographic Industry and Professionals 13 03-09-2020 09:37 AM



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 09:52 PM. | See also: NikonForums.com, CanonForums.com part of our network of photo forums!
  • Red (Default)
  • Green
  • Gray
  • Dark
  • Dark Yellow
  • Dark Blue
  • Old Red
  • Old Green
  • Old Gray
  • Dial-Up Style
Hello! It's great to see you back on the forum! Have you considered joining the community?
register
Creating a FREE ACCOUNT takes under a minute, removes ads, and lets you post! [Dismiss]
Top