On Monday morning, JBS announced it would indefinitely close a pork plant located in Southwest Minnesota.
Nobles County, where the plant is located, has seen its total number of cases jump to over 60 after having just two last week.
According to Bring Me the News, 20 JBS employees tested positive over the weekend and Nobles County now has more cases per capita than any other county in the state.
“We don’t make this decision lightly,” Bob Krebs, President of JBS USA Pork, said. “We recognize JBS Worthington is critical to local hog producers, the U.S. food supply and the many businesses that support the facility each and every day.”
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz had previously sent a state health team to Worthington in an attempt to limit the spread of the virus and keep the facility open.
The facility has 2,000 employees and processes 20,000 hogs daily.