How can health be a priority?

Eureka Springs hotels and other lodging establishments were forced to shut down until recently because of the coronavirus, and now can only accept guests from inside Arkansas or out-of-state people who fit categories like being essential workers. While some shops downtown are reopened, the area is not seeing heavy traffic.

Restaurants are reopening. But with both customers and workers being required to wear masks and seating limited to a third of the normal capacity, some restaurant owners don’t see a potential to be profitable.

There is concern about businesses operating at a loss through the normally busy summer tourism season because of the out-of-state visitor restrictions. Jack Moyer, general manager of the Crescent and Basin Park Hotels, said he has personally been in contact with our area’s representatives on the Governor’s Economic Recovery Task Force “to share with them what the reality on the ground looks like.”

“Individuals are traveling to Eureka Springs from Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas and the Task Force should evaluate that and provide a directive,” Moyer said. “Locally, we can see the writing on the wall, and our hotels are preparing under the assumption there will be a surrounding-state relaxation of restrictions in the near future.”

 Many residents are practicing social distancing, and many have been isolated at home for about six weeks. Some, especially those who work greeting the public at retail shops and restaurants, have said they aren’t eager to face the risks of serving visitors.

But what is the biggest threat for the spread of (ovid-19 in Carroll County? Tourists? Tyson Foods? Some argue that it is Tysons’ chicken processing plants in Berryville and Green Forest which have continued operating, potentially assisting in spreading the virus that has killed 67,914 people in the U.S., including 77 in Arkansas.

At least 13 Tyson facilities elsewhere in the country have had to shut down because of employees coming down with Covid-19, according to the Washington Post. The article said three of the nation’s largest meat processors failed to provide protective gear to all workers. Some employees say they were told to continue working in crowded plants even while sick as the coronavirus spread around the country, turning facilities into infection hot spots.

“The actions by three major meat producers – Tyson Foods, JBS USA and Smithfield Foods – continued even after federal guidelines on social distancing and personal protective equipment were published March 9, according to 25 interviews with employees, elected officials, regional health officials, union leaders and federal safety inspectors as well as dozens of documents, including worker complaints filed with local and federal officials,” The Washington Post said.

Outbreaks can devastate rural communities in more than one way. They can be sources of contagion, and there is an economic impact up and down the supply line when the workforce is idled.

Tyson chicken processing plants in Berryville and Green Forest are some of the larger employers in the area, paying better wages and benefits than most other private employers. But now workers may have to choose between an income and the possibility of serious illness or death.

The Eureka Springs Independent received a report that a woman working at Green Forest Tyson facility had all the covid symptoms and is still very ill. But the plant nurse kept her at work and told the worker she was not eligible for testing for Covid-19. Her civil partner suffers from a health condition that makes the partner at greater risk for complications. The partner had not been out of the home for more than a month except to get a Covid-19 test, which turned out positive.

After the Washington Post exposé, Tyson published full-page ads in the Post, The New York Times and Arkansas Democrat Gazette denying unsafe working conditions and warning that it expects more meat plant closures this year, as well as processing less meat because of workers who fail to show up for work.

The ad called for more government help in finding a way for workers to work in safety without fear, panic or worry. President Trump quickly responded using the Defense Production Act to make meatpacker employees essential workers. That means the plants have to be reopened and workers who don’t show up for work because of Covid-19 concerns can be fired with no possibility of receiving unemployment assistance.

“Donald Trump is in essence marching many meatpacking workers off to slaughter,” reported the Guardian April 30. “Trump is – let’s not mince words here – showing contempt for both workers’ health and public health.”

While the rationale given for the executive order is that it is essential to keep Americans supplied with meat, questions have been raised about the fact that a massive amount of the meat produced in the U.S. is exported. So, workers are taking risks with their lives in order for the companies they work for to make profits exporting meat to other countries.

Stuart Applebaum, executive vice-president of the 1.3 million-member United Food and Commercial Workers International Union said, “When poultry plants shut down, it’s for deep cleaning and to save workers’ lives.” The UFCWIU represents between 10,000 to 15,000 poultry workers in the South and Midwest. “Employers and government must do better. If they want to keep the meat and poultry supply chain healthy, they need to make sure that workers are safe and healthy.”

In Carroll County, no information is available about where the six current cases of Covid-19 originated. Tyson has indicated it will not provide information on cases at specific plants because numbers change rapidly.