On April 28, 2020, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order directing the Secretary of Agriculture to make use of the Defense Production Act (DPA) to assist meat and poultry companies in continuing to remain in operation or returning to operation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The American Association of Meat Processors (AAMP) continues to closely monitor information on the Coronavirus (COVID-19); as shared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In recent days there have been a lot of questions about what you should do if you have an employee that tests positive for COVID-19. There has been no clear step-by-step direction from regulatory agencies as to how you should precede other than what the patient who tested positive should do.

The food industry spends billions of dollars to address the issues raised by the estimated number of illnesses and deaths attributed to a pathogen or allergen. The predictions and statistics these agencies provide and use are truly critical.